Shadow's Journey
by Digi-Dolphin
Summary: seq. to Huntress of GUN When Omochao makes a trip to an ancient temple to await a star of light and darkness, Shadow must follow to find out Eggman's plans for the present and help save the future!
1. Goodbye, Omochao!

A/N: This is another of those old stories. It's also kind of confusing, so sorry in advance for it. Also, all of this takes place as if Sonic Heroes never took place, but then that was because it was written during the DC days of SA2. It's also kinda short, so sorry for that too.

* * *

Shadow's Journey

Chapter One

Rouge ran as fast as she could, one wing drooping down her back, the webbing shredded, making it useless for flying. In her arms was a box with something shining inside. She stole it from a laboratory moments before it was broken into by a familiar evil scientist.

"I've got to get this to someone I can trust. Eggman can't be allowed to get this." Rouge muttered and called out for a taxi car as she emerged from the darkness of the city alleyways onto the night-time streets. She climbed in and directed for the nearest airport. On the way, Rouge tended to her injured wing and wrapped the box up with brown paper, tying it up with a string. "I can't give it to Sonic. He'll take it back to the lab and Eggman will have another chance to steal it." she muttered as she began thinking through her options of keeping the object safe. The cab arrived at the airport and Rouge got out. She raced to the port, bought a ticket and boarded the plane. She checked her watch.

"We'll be arriving in Station Square Airport in four hours." the attendant announced. Rouge hugged the package tightly.

"If I give it to Miles Prower, he'll give it to Sonic and we get the same situation." she muttered. "I don't trust the pink girl, and Knuckles is too busy with his Emerald. Maybe I can find someone else. I could have this mailed to a box number and no one will ever find it!" There was a beep in her pocket and Rouge blinked. "Oh! The CTU!" She dug into her pocket and pulled out the round blue device. A little screen lit up and the image of a Chao was on it. "Deiter! You just gave me an idea!" Rouge exclaimed, "You can deliver this package for me!" She frowned and looked around.

"But it could be dangerous. Someone could take it from you." she added and sighed, "Oh well. Wait." She dug into her pocket and pulled out a letter. "I remember. In his letter, Knuckles said Shadow was doing well in a Chao Kindergarten school. I thought Shadow had died, but it turns out he's just been hiding out from the military. Hey, if Shadow's into Chao kids, maybe he can deliver Deiter." Rouge thought hard and studied her package. "I know! It's perfect! I'll deliver them to Omochao! The robotic Chao! He'll know what to do with it! He'll keep it safe until I can find a hiding place for it."

"_Chao!_ Meow! Hungry!" Deiter cried from the CTU device. Rouge opened the menu on the device, selected a snack and pushed a button. A tiny cake dropped into the screen. Deiter gobbled it up and laughed happily.

"Now arriving in Station Square!" the attendant declared as the plane touched down. Rouge ran for the city and called another taxi. She had to hurry, Eggman was on her tail. She knew it, she had a sense about it. Eggman wasn't happy that Rouge stole the package before he did. He wanted it and wasn't going to let her get away with it.

"Chao Kindergarten! And step on it!" Rouge ordered and sat back, looking back as the cab drove away.

* * *

Omochao looked out of the window worriedly. He had to go. He had to go now. Shadow was taking too long in the school's shower. Half a year since they met Cammy and Shadow still wasn't able to scrape together enough money to rent an apartment. He hated his other job, but it was all he could get. Omochao could sympathize, it was nearly impossible to picture Shadow asking 'You want fries with that?' every time someone pulled up to the drive-through window at the local McBurger. Pay was lousy, but at least it prevented the black hedgehog from making excuses about not being able to eat. Steps sounded on the attic stairs.

"Finally!" Omochao sighed and flew over to the table and sat there. "Shadow! Give me a wind up! I'm almost out of flying power!" Shadow entered the room, a towel draped over his head. "Hurry up! I have to go!"

"Go? Go where?" Shadow asked, dumping the wet towel into a clothes basket. He sat down and grabbed the wind up key, turning it. He gave it a few winds, then stopped. "That better?"

"No! I need more! Keep turning!" Omochao shouted. Shadow continued twisting the key, "More! More! Stop only when I tell you!" Shadow went on winding up the clockwork until Omochao finally said it was enough. He sat back and blew on his hand.

"You know, you could have waited until I got my gloves on before asking me to wind you up. Ouch! My poor fingers!" Shadow muttered and licked at them. Omochao hopped around and jumped to the window. "_Now_ what are you doing?" he asked in exasperation.

"Gotta go, Shadow! Bye! Goodbye! I'll see you again one day!" Omochao waved and flew out the window.

"Bye? Wait! Where are you going?!" Shadow cried, sticking his head out of the window to watch him.

"Away! Far away! To the south!" Omochao replied.

"Why?!"

"Don't know, but I gotta go! I'll be back when I find out!!" Omochao replied and vanished into the distance. Shadow scanned the skies and sighed unhappily. First Cammy, now Omochao. He pulled back and set about clearing the table of dishes. With them out of the way, he dug out his gloves and pulled them on. The cuff was still missing on the left glove. Sonic never did give back the torn piece. Shadow studied it for a moment, trying to piece together in his mind how it had torn. Sonic's cries of shock, his own voice calling out Maria's name for what he thought would be the last time, the heat of the earth's atmosphere burning him. So much heat and fire, Shadow remembered that most of all. The fire and the face of the Bio-lizard staring at him, challenging him to defy Gerald's orders and master plan.

"Hate fire. Hate cold. Hate small spaces." Shadow muttered, pulling his legs up and hugging them. He rocked a little on the bed, then shook his head. "Stop sniveling! Be strong! Where's my Flame Ring?" he muttered and put it on. He then looked down at a letter on the dresser and picked it up. "This is the last letter Cammy wrote when she went south. She talked about finding a really old temple that may hold clues about the Chao. She was going to explore it and see what she could learn." he murmured aloud and grew worried, "Then the expedition party said she disappeared inside. They couldn't find her and had to abandon the search. I don't understand. Why didn't she use Chaos Control?"

Before he could continue his thoughts, a knock sounded on Shadow's door. He ran over and let the stairs down. Prof. Chao stood at the bottom, smiling.

"Hello there! How's our teacher's aide? Be a good fellow and run and call Shadow, please!" the professor exclaimed. Shadow smiled and shook his head. Silly Chao.

"Mr. Principal, I'm Shadow. Remember? First you forget I'm the teacher's aide, now you forget I'm Shadow." he replied and headed down the stairs into the main part of the school. Prof. Chao pointed behind him.

"This young lady is here to see you. My, my, aren't we the ladies' man! First Miss Hedgehog, now Miss Bat! Ta ta!" the Chao remarked and headed off to check on the classes. Shadow blinked.

"Bat?" he echoed and turned around quickly. Rouge stood there, smiling.

"So, you didn't die." she remarked, "You're alive." Shadow stepped back, distrustful of her.

"Last time I checked." he retorted in a low voice, "What do you want? Who sent you?" Rouge did a little twirl as she walked up to him.

"No one at all, Shadow. If that's what you still call yourself. Not even the real Shadow." she remarked with a little laugh, "And you've been alive all this time, didn't even tell me. You let me think you were dead and burned up and I was so sad for you... shame on you for leaving me in the dark!" she scolded. Shadow stepped back further.

"What do you want? My Emerald? You're not getting my Chaos Emerald!" he snapped at her. Rouge clicked her tongue and shook her finger at him.

"Wrong again, little hedgehog! I'm not that into jewels anymore. I need you to do me a favor." she replied with a smile.

"And why should I?" Shadow growled and this time Rouge looked serious.

"Eggman's after me. He's been working on something big and needs a special part to complete it. I stole it first and have to hide it. Until I find a safe place for it, I need to leave it with Omochao." she told him.

"Dr. Robotnik? After you?" Shadow echoed in surprise, "For a missing component? Wait a second!" He narrowed his eyes at her. "How do you know Omochao? He's my friend, and the first teacher's aide here at the kindergarten."

"Omochao is very famous. He's the first robotic Chao to ever have a mind of his own. I came here once to find a jewel, but ran into him. He gave me a Chao Egg and told me to look after it to teach me a few things." Rouge explained and grinned, "I got a prize-winning race Chao out of the deal. And I learned to care for others as well."

"Well, okay. What's the favor?" Shadow sighed and gave her a look, "But if you double-cross me and send me walking into some trap, Rouge, I'll...."

"It's just a simple thing!" Rouge assured him and pulled out the CTU. "This is the Chao Transport Unit. My Dark Chao, Deiter, is in here." she explained and pressed a button. A beam of light shone from the device onto the floor and a Chao appeared. It was black with little yellow cat ears, a cheetah's arms, legs, and tail, and a grin. "This is Deiter. He's going to deliver a package to Omochao, and you're going to look after him."

"Oh, great! And Omochao took off for the south! I'll have to go track him down!" Shadow exclaimed. Rouge gave the little package to Deiter and straightened.

"Didn't he give you anything? A tracking device?" she asked. Shadow shook his head. "How about a clue?"

"He said he was going far south." Shadow replied, "But what could there be in the south that is important to a robot?" He stood in thought, then remembered Cammy's letter. The Chao temple was in the south, somewhere in South America from the looks of the stamps. "Omochao is like a Chao, so maybe he went to the temple. I'll bet Omochao went to the Chao Temple!" he declared.

"I know that place. They said there was a jewel there once that was a Chaos Emerald in disguise. He could be there to get the Emerald and bring it back here." Rouge added. "Please, take Deiter to Omochao. Look after him. He knows the way to the temple, right?" she asked the Chao.

"Meow, Chao! Sure!" Deiter replied, "Every Chao knows it!" Shadow blinked at him.

"Wow! It can talk! The Chao here barely know their ABC's." he remarked. Rouge laughed.

"That's my little champ!" she replied, then looked around. "I have to go now, or Eggman will find out where I am and find you. Here's a satellite phone. I'll call every now and then to check on you. Good luck, Shadow." she whispered and pushed a little phone into his hands. She hurried out the door and Shadow noticed her ruined wing.

"Rouge! Your wing! What happened to it?!" he called out but she was already gone. He looked down at the phone and frowned. Things weren't going right. The Chao tugged at his sock and meowed.

"Gotta go! Let's go!" he called up to him. Shadow nodded and picked the Chao up, running upstairs to his room. He had to pack supplies first. He threw a backpack out of the closet and began to pack it. First aid kit, Chao seeds, canteen, food, and a blanket. Shadow stuffed them in, zipped it up and pulled the pack on. He grabbed the red Chaos Emerald.

"All right! Let's go!" he cried, picking up the Chao. Shadow held up the Emerald and thought about a spot in Brazil that he had seen on a postcard from Cammy. "Chaos Control!" He and Deiter warped away to far south.


	2. To the Temple of the Chao!

Chapter Two

Brazil was beautiful, but to Shadow it was dark, deadly, dangerous and unknown. Deiter held the package in his hands, never putting it down. He looked around and started walking in one direction, further south. Shadow looked around, already starting to sweat from the heat, and spotted the Chao. He raced after and walked beside him, still perspiring. Hot. It was hot and he didn't like the humidity. It made him wish for the climate controlled ARK, his home before Prof. Gerald Robotnik went insane. It wasn't Shadow's fault, he didn't know anything. He had been grieving over Maria and then to be put to sleep because of his creator's threats only made him feel as cold and unloved as the last ice cube in the freezer at home. He hated the cold and now he hated this heat.

"I should have brought a fan, too." Shadow grumbled as he followed Deiter, who didn't mind the weather. "Hey, how far is it anyway?"

"Ten miles." Deiter replied, "Straight ahead." Shadow sighed and fanned his face with a hand. Way too hot. Couldn't Rouge have stolen the thing in the fall?!

"What's in that box anyway?" Shadow asked the Chao.

"I dunno."

"Open it and find out."

"No way! Rouge will know if I did and she'll be mad at me! We give it to Omochao!" Deiter snapped and walked on. Shadow blinked and stuck his nose up in the air disdainfully, putting his arms behind his head as he walked along.

"Well you didn't have to get so snappy about it. I was just curious." he muttered and huffed. Deiter made a face and continued on his trek to the Chao Temple.

* * *

Eggman had followed Rouge a little further until he was sure she didn't have the box. Frustrated, he headed back to the Chao Kindergarten and stepped out of his hovering machine. He marched up to the door and banged on it.

"Open up and tell me where the bat left the box!" he yelled. The door opened and Prof. Chao looked up at him.

"Hello! I'm Principal Chao! Welcome to Chao Kindergarten! Miss Bat isn't here, but she left her Chao with our teacher's aide. I think they went to the south." the Chao replied.

"Did that little Chao have a box?" Eggman demanded to know.

"Yep! It's so cute! He had a little package all wrapped up and ready for Omochao! How nice of them to give him a present!" Prof. Chao replied. "I know! You can go with them! I'll just call the teacher's aide!"

"You just said the teacher's aide went to the south!" Eggman snapped.

"Oh, really? I guess it slipped my mind." Prof. Chao remarked in confusion, "Oh well." Eggman shook his head. The southern continent was a big place, but it was his only lead and he had the tracking devices scanning for the component. All he needed was that piece and one other thing, although that would be hard to get.

"A lead's a lead. I'll worry about getting a suitable brain later." he sighed and jumped back in his machine. He pushed a few buttons and began to fly towards South America at top speed. "Why would Rouge give the component to a Chao, then to a kindergarten teacher?" he muttered as he headed over the ocean. "Unless it's a trick, and she gave it to Sonic. Only Sonic can get to the southern land in less than a day. I'd better catch up to him and get that component before he destroys it! Better yet, I could use him as a solution to my problem." Eggman laughed maniacally. "Yes! I truly am a genius! All these years Sonic's thwarted my plans for global domination! Now I'll use him as the missing piece to help me conquer it!"

* * *

Deiter sat on a rock and ate his piece of fruit while the package sat on his lap. Shadow leaned on it as casually as possible and chewed on a pear. It was still too hot. The black hedgehog made a face, growling just a bit now and then. He was starting to despise the climate more than he hated small spaces.

"The temple had better not be tiny." he grumbled and shook his head, "Never mind. If it was tiny, Cammy would never have been able to get in." He looked down at the cheetah Chao. "How much farther?" he asked.

"Seven miles." Deiter replied and finished his fruit, "More." Shadow gave him another piece and took another bite out of his own fruit. He looked out at the stretch of jungle and groaned inwardly. Three miles of marsh-land, now seven miles of dark forest. He liked fields, wide open spaces where he could see ahead and run fast if something came his way. He didn't trust the forests and jungles as much, too many places where something deadly could hide. Sure he could vanish in the shadows, but if he could hide there, so could some other black thing, like a soldier in camoflauge.

"Can't we go around the stupid thing?" Shadow muttered and popped the last bit of pear into his mouth, chewing away.

"No. Straight through or we miss the entrance. Go around and you get lost for a week." the Chao replied. Shadow looked down at him, studying him for a few moments. Then he turned to look at the jungle. He looked back at the Chao, sighed, and stood straight, dusting off his hands.

"All right then. Let's go." Shadow decided and picked the Chao up. "Just point the way." Deiter pointed ahead and Shadow walked on, unaware of the danger creeping along on his tail.

* * *

Rouge checked into the Station Square apartments and headed to the pool side to let the sun warm her aching wing. Just as she was getting drowsy, a voice cut through her fading thoughts.

"Rouge?! What are you doing here?!" Sonic cried, "And what's up with your wing?!" Rouge turned her head and glared up at him.

"Do you mind? I was trying to take a nap. As for my wing, that's none of your business." she scolded and sat up. "Well, since I'm up, I'd better check on my delivery boy." Rouge reached out and grabbed her satellite phone. She aimed it, dialed a number and held it up to her ear. "Hello? Rouge here. How's it going?" she asked. Sonic and Tails watched her make her call, curious about what she meant.

"What do you mean, you hate the jungle? What's wrong with it?" Rouge remarked, "You don't like the way it gets dark so fast? I thought you'd like it. You can hide in it, can't you?" She listened to the angry chatter and rolled her eyes. "You're way too paranoid. The military doesn't have a clue that you're tramping around a Brazilian jungle." More chatter. "If there are jaguars, just bop them with that attack of yours. The homing one." A few barking words. "Don't raise your voice at me! I'd do it myself, but my wing is torn up and I can't fly! Just get him to Omochao!" More chatter followed by a yelp. "Oh, I forgot to mention. Deiter likes to nibble on things and he's got some sharp teeth. Be careful. How far are you from the temple?" Yelling and shouting came over the phone and this time Sonic could hear the voice clearly.

"I've got your crazy Chao gnawing on my arm like it was a hot dog and you're worried about the stupid temple?! I'm five miles from it, you ungrateful bat woman! And either you find a new teething ring for your pussycat, or I'll dump this thing in a lab!" Shadow shrieked.

"Is that Shadow?! What's he doing in Brazil?!" Sonic exclaimed. Rouge glared at him.

"Excuse me! Private conversation, thank you!" she retorted and went back to the phone. "Shadow, don't you dare do anything to my little champ! You get your spiny black butt in that temple today or I'll find out where you live and paint your house purple!"

"Don't you threaten me! Is that Sonic I heard a minute ago?! You're not conning him in this crazy plan, are you?! You get _him_ to deliver the walking garbage disposal! I want to keep my arms in working order!" the black hedgehog snapped back. Sonic grabbed for the phone.

"Gimme that phone! Hand it over, Rouge! I want to talk to Shadow!" he ordered, then lunged for it. Rouge planted a hand in his face and held him at bay while Sonic waved his arms, reaching for the phone, which Rouge held away from her and out of his reach. "Hand it over! Gimme!"

"Hands off, hedgehog! It's my phone!" Rouge yelled, struggling to keep him away. Tails ran around to the other side of the beach chair and snatched the phone away, leaving Rouge and Sonic to continue fighting on the chair. He put it to his ear.

"Hello? Shadow?" Tails called into the phone.

"Who's this? You're not Rouge." Shadow answered, "Ow! Stop it! Get off! Here! Chew on this! Lucky me, I found a leftover chew toy in my backpack."

"It's me, Miles Prower. You know, Tails? Sonic's buddy? Where are you?" Tails replied.

"Middle of nowhere, Brazil, near the Chao Temple. Hey, while I'm here, I can search for Cammy." Shadow replied, "Er.... Where's Rouge?" Tails looked back at the bat and the hedgehog. Rouge stuck her fingers in Sonic's mouth and pulled them wide apart at the sides, distorting his face. Sonic pinched her cheeks and pulled them away from her face, stretching it in return.

"She's a little busy. What are you doing out there?" Tails replied, "Everyone thought you were at home."

"Rouge stole something from Dr. Robotnik and he wants it. She wanted me to give it to Omochao for safekeeping until she can plan something else. Deiter is carrying it with him. Omochao flew away here and Cammy disappeared inside the temple, so I'm going to look for both of them." Shadow answered, "I thought I heard Sonic. Is he there with you?"

"Sorta." Tails answered vaguely. Even after all that time, he still didn't quite trust Shadow. He looked cold and sometimes he acted it. He didn't know Amy's name, called Tails by his last name, and completely ignored Knuckles. But when it came to Sonic, Shadow knew almost everything; his name, attacks, favorite foods and hang outs, even the apartment he lived in. Yet he chased Sonic off now and then, ran after him on other occasions.

"'Sorta?' 'Sorta?!' What kind of answer is that?! Is he there or not?!" Shadow griped. Tails frowned. There he goes again, treating Tails as if he were just some scatterbrained kid. Well, young or not, Tails wasn't stupid. He'd show him.

"Shadow?" he called again.

"Quit playing around and put Sonic on the phone!" Shadow griped, "Ow! You're starting to get on my nerves, Deiter! The toy's over there! Quit nibbling on my leg!" Tails took a deep breath. Here goes.

"Shadow, I challenge you!" Tails declared into the phone. Silence. Rouge and Sonic fought on, oblivious to the conversation. Tails listened carefully. All he heard was some breathing, soft and shallow.

"Repeat that, please." the voice whispered on the other end.

"You heard me. I challenge you. I'm not just a kid and I'll prove it. If I can beat you, you'll have to stop treating me like one." Tails clarified. Shadow began to laugh, a dark, rich laugh that Tails hadn't heard since the black hedgehog broke into the Station Square bank, stole the green Chaos Emerald, and insulted the police from atop the city bridge.

"All right, Prower. But here's my side. When I beat you, you'll give me your Chaos Emerald. It'll go well with the one I already have." Shadow replied softly with a mocking tone. "Train hard, little fox. I have every attack Sonic has and then some." Tails pulled the phone away, startled. What did he just get himself into?

"Hah! Free at last!" Sonic laughed and rolled away, falling off the chair, "Ow!" He jumped to his feet, grabbed the phone and put it to his ear. "Shadow! Wassup?!" he greeted.

"Sonic? What did you just say? Is that even a real word?! Stop babbling in pig Latin and listen up!" Shadow snapped, "I'm here in Brazil, near a temple, and I've got Dr. Robotnik on my case if he finds out I've got his stupid component thing Rouge swiped. Get your hide over here, quick, or I'm toast! I can't deliver this box to Omochao, find Cammy, and foul up Dr. Robotnik's latest scheme by myself! I'll get clobbered on my own! My arm is still a little weak!"

"You don't have to yell. We'll be there soon. Bye." Sonic replied and hung up. He tossed the phone to Rouge and looked at Tails. "Pal, we've got a mission! Get your Emerald and ready the Tornado II! We're going to Brazil!" he declared.

"You have a plane? Why didn't you say so? I'm coming too!" Rouge declared, "This way, I can make sure Shadow delivers the package." The three of them ran for the train station to get to Tails' workshop.

In a few short minutes, Sonic, Tails and Rouge were on their way to find Shadow. Tails' yellow Chaos Emerald was at the front of the plane, the source of its power. The plane flew speedily onwards. It passed right by Eggman's hover machine and they didn't even notice, too intent on their 'sometimes' friend out in the forest. Eggman noticed and made the machine go faster.

* * *

Dieter slept quietly, laying stomach down on the package. Shadow was somewhat curled up nearby, trying to sleep, but waking up every time he heard a strange sound. He looked around, grumbled, and curled up into a tight black ball, shivering. Why couldn't Rouge have picked spring to steal the stupid box? Night had fallen but it felt like it had been night for the past few hours, the jungle was so dark. Shadow started a fire to keep animals at bay, but it began attracting bugs. He curled up in his blanket to keep them away.

"If that thing is anything less than a weapon more dangerous than the Eclipse Cannon, I'm shoving that Chao down Rouge's throat!" Shadow griped and finally drifted off to sleep.

Morning brought the two back on the journey for the Chao Temple, Deiter walking along happily. Shadow followed behind, rubbing at one eye to get rid of his sleepiness. He yawned.

"Are we there yet?" he asked the Chao. Deiter sang joyfully.

"Almost! Two more miles!" Deiter replied and skipped along, still holding the package to him. Shadow grumbled and picked him up.

"You walk too slow. I can run there and get there sometime this century." he told him and started to dart around trees to get to the temple. The jungle was dense and it took a lot of work to avoid bumping into trees. "Whose idea was it to plant all these trees here?!" Shadow yelled and tripped over a tree root. "Hey!" He hit the ground in a ball and rolled along the grass, creating a Fire Somersault that mowed down trees and cleared a path for them. Shadow was still hugging the Dark Chao to him as he tumbled through the last couple of miles of foliage.

"Help! Help!" Deiter wailed as Shadow yelled the same thing. Finally, the two of them dropped off a small cliff and landed on the ground hard. Shadow popped out of his roll and lay flat on his back with a groan. Deiter sat up on his stomach, looking around. He smiled. "We're here!" he exclaimed and Shadow struggled to sit up. He looked up at the tall, pyramid-like building and groaned again.

"Oh, goody. We have to go in there? Why would Omochao be in there?" he griped. Shadow looked down at Deiter and scowled. "Hey. Off. I'm not a pillow." The Chao rolled off and dusted himself off, then picked the package up again. Shadow stood, wobbled a bit and looked himself over for injury. Finding none, he followed Deiter to the temple's entrance.

The temple entrance was large and blocked by a huge door that didn't seem to open easily. Shadow looked up at it, then knocked, listening for a response. He ran his hands over the stone, looking for a secret switch that could open it. Deiter scanned the door, flying up a little to look at it closely. There was a drawing of a Chao in the middle of the giant door. Deiter smiled and let himself drop. Shadow didn't see him come. He heard giggling, looked up and had the Chao land on his face, knocking him onto his back again. He pulled the Chao off of his face and growled at him, bringing Deiter up to him so closely his nose was almost touching the little Demon Chao.

"Do I look like a landing pad to you? Why'dya do that for, ya little creep?!" he snapped. Deiter laughed and shoved the package into his face.

"I figured out how to open the door! Hold this and no peeking! Here I go!" he replied and flew up into the air again. He hovered for a moment, watching the door, then flew forward at it. Shadow held the package in one hand and yelped.

"Hey! Are you crazy?! You can't break down that big stone wall!" he shouted as the Chao hit and went splat on top of the drawing of the Chao. He sprawled out to fit the drawing and the door shook. It began to open inward, dust crumbling away as Deiter fell away from it. Shadow ran forward, jumped, and caught the little Dark Chao. The doors continued to pull away and finally stopped when the entrance was cleared.

"See? Told ya I could open it!" Deiter said woozily. Shadow smiled at him and laughed.

"Yep. You proved me wrong! Okay, in we go!" he remarked and headed into the temple.

* * *

Eggman managed to get to the temple ahead of Sonic and his friends, mainly because the trio of heroes had stopped to gather supplies and lunch. He looked around and pushed a button on his machine. High overhead, a carrier dropped a giant box. It released a parachute and the box floated down next to him. Eggman pressed yet another button on the box and it fell open, revealing a large machine. It was yellow and stood on two raptor-like legs, with four arms and a long mechanical tail. Instead of a head, it had a cockpit with an impenetrable glass dome covering it and a gel-like substance where the seat should be. On the ends of two arms were hands made up of three fingers, the third arm had a flamethrower and the fourth a laser blaster. This was the 'something big' Rouge had been talking about, a weapon that could do mass destruction, and was powered and controlled by a living brain. Or at least it would be, if it had the missing component Rouge stole, and a person in the cockpit with the headgear on. With the headgear, Eggman could control the brain energy of the person, thus controlling the robot.

"Without that component, I'll have to make do with these copies I made, but they won't last for very long." he muttered, looking into a second box. "They will only last a short time each and without that component, my ingenious creation will be unable to go out and conquer in my stead! Blasted bat!" He looked up at the open temple and frowned, using the hovering machine's grappling arm to pick up and carry the robot inside.

"This poses an intriguing question. If I just saw Sonic on his way here, and Rouge left her little pet with someone who made it here in less than a day, then who is walking around with my component part? It isn't Sonic, but someone else with his same speed. But no one else has that speed." Eggman muttered and grinned, "Well, I'll find out once I get in and find that teacher's aide! Look out, Sonic! I'll be setting up traps for you!"

Once inside the temple, Eggman released a few reprogrammed Artificial Chaos and E-1000 robots inside. He ordered them to look for anyone who had a small box with them and then began to explore the temple in search of a new hideout and anything of usefulness to his research and schemes.

* * *

Camilla Maria Hedgehog, legend hunter and tomb raider, sat in a foul mood at the bottom of a trap. Covered in dust and pack full of papers, scrolls and artifacts, she had explored the Chao Temple more deeply than any other member of her excavation crew. Which may have explained her triggering the ancient booby trap that dumped her into a pit from which she couldn't climb out.

"Help! Is anyone up there?!" she called for what seemed like the thousandth time. Cammy wasn't about to risk Chaos Control so close to a great discovery, and her supplies were still enough to hold her for another few days, but if she wasn't found soon....

She groaned loudly and blinked when a call answered her. Looking up, she spotted a large man with a bright orange mustache looking down at her. She smiled brightly and waved at him.

"Hi! Hello! Can you lend a girl a hand?" she asked and the man smiled back before disappearing from view. A crane lowered moments later and grabbed her around the waist, hoisting her up and out. "Oh, thanks! I thought I'd be stuck there for good!"

"It's no problem at all, my dear!" the man replied brightly as he set her down, "Would you mind helping me with a small problem? I'm looking for a person who has a package of mine and was seen wandering around in this temple with a Chao."

"And you want me to help find him? Sure! I'll get started on it right away!" Cammy replied with a thumb's up. The man smiled again.

"Excellent. Call me when you do." he added and handed her a small radio. She looked at the symbol painted on the side, it looked like the man's face, then tucked it into her shorts.

"Alrighty! Catch you later!" Cammy cheered and ran off, unaware of the bug planted in the radio by the evil Dr. Eggman.


	3. Sonic Arrives

A/N: I chose Cammy's name because it's not one you hear very often and I'm all for something different. Camilla Maria sounds rhymey and well, I like rhythm. Emerald and Aura, those names sound a little cookie-cutter IMO, and I want to try for originality.

* * *

Chapter Three

Shadow studied the markings on the walls of the ancient temple as Deiter took a break and nibbled on the rubber bone. The drawings and carvings were old, and were of Chao and jewels and one giant jewel in particular. Also carved in the rock was a strange looking creature, tall and slender. It stood on two legs, had two arms and a conical head. It looked like it was made of water.

"What is that thing?" Shadow muttered. Deiter looked up at him and saw the drawing.

"That's Chaos." he replied. Shadow looked back at him, cocking his head.

"Chaos? Like, Chaos Control?" he asked. Deiter shook his head and pointed at the drawing.

"That's Chaos. A long time ago, in ancient times, he took care of and protected the Chao. He's not around anymore. He went to another zone with Tikal. She's nice." Deiter said and smiled at Shadow, "He's kinda like you! He started off scary-looking, was nice, turned bad, then went back to being nice after Super Sonic helped him. He couldn't be hurt by anything and used Chaos Emeralds for power." Shadow looked a little guilty.

"I wasn't supposed to be bad, but the humans made me so mad, I think I might have been a little crazy. Probably from the professor planting his ideas and will into me." the hedgehog replied, "So this Chaos guy, who made him?"

"Nobody. He came from the water. He was the water." Deiter answered, "Sonic gave him a chance to be nice again. Sonic gave you a chance, didn't he?"

"I guess. I haven't been taking it so far." Shadow muttered, "I don't get it. He irritates me sometimes, and other times I want to be sure he's okay and that he's doing well."

"Like a big brother!" Deiter cheered and giggled. Shadow smiled and laughed.

"I suppose so! Sonic keeps insisting we could be, but we're not related. I'm man-made, he's hedgehog-born. We're too far apart on the life spectrum." he pointed out and continued walking on, calling Omochao's name.

* * *

Cammy perked her ears up at the sound of Shadow's voice and followed it, wondering what he could be doing there. Unsure whether to believe what she heard or not, she continued to track the sound until she rounded a corner and bumped into the black hedgehog.

"Shadow!" she exclaimed in surprise as he stepped back and blinked at her. She was wearing a cute outfit, sleeveless turtleneck shirt that hugged her body, shorts and hiking boots, backpack and the Tiki Rod strapped to her leg. Everything in shades of green again.

"Don't you ever get tired of green?" Shadow asked and shook his head, "I mean, Cammy?! Where have you been?! Your team said you disappeared!" Cammy laughed brightly, forgetting the promise to the strange man.

"I got stuck in a booby trap." she explained and smiled. "But now that you're here, you can help me find the treasure of this temple! I'm searching for the secret to Chaos Power." With that, she grabbed his hand and started walking off, leaving him to sputter in surprise and stare dumbly at the back of her head.

* * *

Sonic looked down at the burned away trail that led to the Chao Temple. Rouge smiled at it.

"Looks like Shadow got mad at the jungle. He wasn't kidding when he said he hated it." she remarked and laughed. Tails looked down and gulped. He had to go against someone who could do that? Oh boy!

"Well, at least he made a decent runway. Land here, Tails." Sonic replied. Tails brought the plane down and everyone climbed out, running up to the temple. The hedgehog looked around, then looked down at the ground. "Hey! Footprints!" he exclaimed and knelt down, studying them closely. He could make out letters in the imprint, letters that spelled Shadow's name. Shadow's sneakers had his name written on the bottom, Prof. Gerald Robotnik's idea of a prank and a way to ID Shadow's clothes if he happened to throw them somewhere, which he often did as a kid. As a little hedgehog, Shadow liked to joke around and sometimes threw his shoes into the hallway to see if anyone tripped on them. Tired of constantly falling all over the little red and white sneakers and having Shadow play innocent whenever he was asked if they belonged to him, Gerald carved Shadow's name into every bit of clothing he gave him. It soon ended Shadow's prankish streak, but he found other ways of playing around.

"Yep! These are Shadow's prints!" Sonic declared, "He's here!" He stood up and pointed at the temple. "Onwards! To find Shadow the Hedgehog!"

"What about the box?" Tails asked, pointing at the boards on the grass, "I doubt Shadow brought a whole crate of stuff with him. All of Shadow's personal belongings could fit in a shoe box. I think someone else is here." Sonic and Rouge walked up to him, puzzled.

"Really? Who?" Sonic asked and Tails lifted up the board. On it was a picture of Eggman's face. Sonic made a face. "Eggman! That rotten egg!" He suddenly looked concerned. "Wait a second. Eggman thinks Shadow's dead too. If he finds out he's not, what will he do to Shadow?"

"Try to reclaim him, I guess." Tails remarked, letting the board fall over. Sonic looked confused. "Prof. Gerald Robotnik created Shadow. In a way, he owned Shadow. Dr. Eggman is a descendant of Prof. Gerald and since the professor died, logically, his belongings should go to him." Tails explained. Sonic still looked blank. Tails sighed. In some ways, Sonic was worse than Shadow. At least Shadow made an effort to understand what he was saying, but then he would completely ignore his words and formulate his own opinions. With Sonic, the words just flew over his head. "Gerald Robotnik's possessions go to his next of kin. Dr. Eggman should inherit everything and anything Prof. Gerald owned, including Shadow the Hedgehog. Technically speaking, Shadow belongs to Eggman... as property." Tails clarified.

"But Shadow's not a thing to be bounced back and forth between owners!" Sonic griped, "He's his own hedgehog!"

"Try telling that to the military. They wanted possession of him too." Tails pointed out. Rouge listened in, interested.

"That's all very fascinating, boys, but I think we should go in and find the hedgehog we're babbling about." she remarked, bringing the two friends back to reality and the task at hand, "Although the idea of Shadow being Eggman's toy instead of the other way around is kind of funny! Eggman taking orders from Shadow when it should have been Shadow taking orders from Eggman! Ha!" she laughed.

"Stop laughing!" Sonic snapped, "You're the one who told him he wasn't the real Shadow! How could you think the Bio-lizard was Shadow?!" Rouge clicked her tongue at him.

"That's what the results said. Excuse me for only getting half of the information. Shadow kept messing with the computers on ARK." she lectured. "How was I to know Gerald made both at the same time and under the same name, Project Shadow, but only named the primary hedgehog prototype, Shadow?" The three argued about it as they entered the temple, one voting that Shadow was free to do what he wanted, one saying he was Eggman's property, and the third insisting Shadow wasn't Shadow at all.

* * *

Eggman wandered the temple after hiding his robot safely. It looked interesting enough, but it wasn't what he wanted in terms of a hideout. The carvings reminded him of the time he tried to use Chaos to take over Station Square, and Sonic spoiled it with his super form. He thought he had a surefire plan to win when Shadow crossed his path, but then Sonic got to him, too, and he joined the blue hedgehog. Eggman grumbled over the loss of Shadow. Ultimate life form or not, nothing could survive getting burned to a crisp by the earth's atmosphere. Shadow's goose had been cooked, so to speak, when he ignored Sonic's order to return to the space colony.

"Easy come, easy go." Eggman muttered, then paused. Something small and black lay on the floor. He walked up to it and picked it up. It was a wallet, dropped or forgotten by its owner, perhaps the green hedgehog? Eggman opened it up and looked through it. Searching the wallet, he found an old dollar and some change, a ticket stub to a recent movie, a grocery list for chili dog ingredients, and a memo to buy more crayons. "This must be Sonic's wallet. He eats those blasted chili dogs as if they were the only things keeping him alive!" Eggman muttered and pocketed the wallet. "His loss, my gain." As he walked back to his hiding place, he heard someone yell from deeper in the temple.

"Hey, slow down! Wait a second, Cammy! I have to talk to you!" a voice yelled, but it didn't sound like Sonic. It was a little deeper in pitch, kind of familiar. Eggman tried to remember where he had heard it as he continued on his way.

* * *

Cammy finally stopped to check her charts and Shadow took the opportunity to explain his predicament to her. She listened and smiled, agreeing to help.

"So Omochao is in here somewhere, huh? Well, let's avoid those hedgehog-catching traps and find him. This Robotnik guy sounds like a nasty cookie." she remarked.

"Not all of the Robotniks are bad. Prof. Gerald and Maria were good people." Shadow pointed out coldly. Cammy held up her hands.

"With all due respect to the deceased, of course." she amended. She looked around at the carvings on the walls. "According to all of these drawings, this temple is somewhat related to the one in the Mystic Ruins back home. The same references to Chaos and the Master Emerald, the Chaos Emeralds, and the Chao who looked after them." she remarked.

"How did you get in here anyway? The door only opens when a Chao plants his face on it." Shadow asked, carrying Deiter in his arms. Cammy smiled and dug around in her backpack, pulling out a small relic. It looked like a carved stone statue of a Chao.

"I used this on the pedestal outside of the temple. The weight activated the door and had it open. As soon as they opened, I grabbed the statue and ran in." she replied, "I'm looking for more connections and maybe a little artifact or two to give to the Brazilian museums." She put it up and ran her hands along the wall as they traveled deeper into the temple. "Shadow, have you ever heard of a saying about the Emeralds? It goes like this." she said. "_The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one who unifies the Chaos._" Cammy recited, "I read it on some of the artifacts and temple walls I find. It's written everywhere."

"I've heard a little of it. Sonic's friend said it to the Master Emerald." Shadow replied.

"Well, I think there's more to it. All seven Emeralds serve whoever has possession of them and calls for their power, right? Well, my theory is that if you had one of those Emeralds, and a strong enough heart and will, you could use the weaker power for other things. It all depends on what is in your heart and what you wish." Cammy told him, "That's why I'm researching the Emeralds. We both have one of the Chaos Emeralds. If we could find a way to harness some of their power with our will and hearts without the aid of the other Emeralds, we could have a breakthrough in sustaining energy in the super forms!" Shadow looked back at his pack, which contained the red Emerald. "Think of it, Shadow! A new Chaos Control power, and the ability to keep the super forms we go into for more than a few minutes! You won't have to worry about running out of energy as Super Shadow, and I won't get mine drained out whenever I use Chaos Control!"

"You think we could pull it off?" Shadow muttered, interested in the idea. Cammy nodded and looked around at the carvings. "I'll be able to keep up with Sonic! I'll really be an ultimate life form!" he declared excitedly. Deiter yelped when Shadow squeezed him too tightly. "Oops! Sorry, Deiter." Cammy stopped at one carving and studied it intensely. "Cammy? What's wrong?" Shadow asked, coming to her side.

"This drawing. It looks like Omochao. He's waiting for something. A star shows and brings light with darkness. Looks like this star is very important for Omochao." she explained, pointing out the carvings. Shadow paled slightly.

"How? Why? What's going to happen if he doesn't get that star?" he whispered. Cammy looked back at him and shrugged. "We've got to find him." She studied the carvings again.

"It's a map. Here we are, and Omochao could be here in the center of the temple. If we follow this hall and make a right, we'll enter the main corridor. We follow that to the end and walk through the green doors." she replied, "That's where the central chamber is." Shadow was off and running. With a pout, Cammy gave chase. "Shadow! Wait for me! If you don't slow down right now, I'll call this a chase and activate our deal!" Shadow hit the brakes, slammed face first into a wall, and fell back onto the floor. "Shadow!" Cammy raced to his side and helped him up, "Are you okay?!"

"My face feels like a pancake." Shadow grumbled, holding his nose in both hands as Deiter wobbled about and fell over, still clutching the package. He began to cry, wailing loudly. "Deal with him." Cammy picked up the Chao and rocked it back and forth, cuddling and cooing to the creature. After a while it stopped crying and scowled at Shadow.

"Meanie! Watch where you're going!" he scolded. Shadow made a face at him and twitched his nose to see if it still worked.

"I'm okay, save for what may be a pain that'll linger." he told Cammy.

"Serves you right. Next time, wait for me. I don't have your kind of speed." Cammy scolded him and the two of them ran off for the central chamber.

* * *

Sonic flicked an ear every now and then, irritated by a strange humming sound that only he seemed to hear. Tails and Rouge were looking at the carvings, trying to decipher the map. They had already seen signs of Eggman, Artificial Chaos and E-1000 series robots wandering the halls. Sonic and Tails took care of them, Sonic with his Homing Attacks, Tails in the Cyclone. Rouge couldn't attack too well with her wing torn, but she was able to utilize her kicks well enough. If something blocked her way, she gave it a good kick to crack it enough to allow Tails to shoot it.

"You hear that? It's really bugging me." Sonic muttered as Tails copied the map into his computer. Rouge listened and tried to hear the sound.

"I don't hear anything, but I can feel something. Like a vibration, but very slight." she replied. Sonic began to walk off in a different direction. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Rouge snapped, "We have to find Shadow and make sure he delivers the component!"

"You find him! I'm going to see what that sound is! Tails! Keep in touch with me! I'll give you a call once I find the source of that weird noise!" Sonic called back and ran off at high speed. Tails sighed and followed Rouge. Great, great, great. If he met up with Shadow now, would the black hedgehog want to start the challenge right away, or wait until after this whole mess was cleaned up?

* * *

Eggman listened to one of the robots report seeing a pair of hedgehogs wandering the temple halls, wrecking robots and Artificial Chaos along the way to the central chamber. He clicked off and thought about it.

"So, Sonic must be here with Amy and Tails. My traps should catch them." he murmured and frowned, "But then, who is Cammy? And whose voice was yelling that name?" He stood up and climbed into his walker, traveling back into the halls. "Heheheh! This I want to see! Sonic smashed into bits! Or caught by one of my robots!" Eggman laughed, "Then I can use him as the brain to my Bot!"

As Eggman wandered the halls, the sensors on his walker picked up something strange. An air disturbance was nearby, inaudible but fairly strong. Eggman studied it and began to follow the signal, curious to know what it was.

"What's causing this strange disturbance?" he wondered aloud as he followed the twists and turns of the maze into a chamber. It contained a small machine made of wood and stone, tiny paper wings flapped in a rapid motion to create a hypnotic humming. Eggman entered the chamber and paused in the room, startled. Sonic stood in the center of the room, frozen in place. Curious, Eggman got out of his walker and walked up to him, waving a hand in front of Sonic's face. The hedgehog didn't register it.

"Sonic? Are you playing some kind of practical joke?" Eggman asked gruffly. No answer. Eggman looked up at the machine of wood and stone, watching it spin and the wings flap. He put a hand up to it and felt the air around it vibrating. "Ah, so this is what was causing the disturbance! I think this vibration has a hypnotic effect on hedgehogs!" he mused, "So then, who is the mystery man? The teacher's aide! He had the Chao with the box!" Eggman paced back and forth, thinking.

"Then how did that other hedgehog get here in less than a day? It wasn't Sonic, I saw him on his way here. It's not Amy Rose, she has no speed. And it can't be that green one I sent after the aide. She was already here and had no package." He stopped pacing. "Bah! No matter! I have Sonic in my hands now! I can use him to bring my creation one step closer to completion!" Eggman laughed and scurried back to his walker. He reached in, pulled out a small spray and ran back to Sonic. He spritzed a purple cloud in Sonic's face. It took a moment to kick in, but the knock out gas worked like a charm. Sonic sighed and slumped backwards against the evil scientist. Careful of the quills, Eggman carried him back to the walker, stuck him in the bucket seat, and climbed in. "Onwards! To global domination!" Eggman declared and headed back to the secret chamber.


	4. Or Should That Be Sonicbot?

Chapter Four

"Is this the one?" Shadow asked, looking up at the green doors. Cammy looked up with him.

"That's the one." she confirmed, "My neck is starting to hurt."

"Mine too." Shadow murmured and fell back. "Ugh. My whole body aches. Smash this, smash that. There are way too many robots and experimental life forms in this freaky temple." he groaned. Cammy sat down and let out a deep breath.

"You're telling me. But why would there be such things here anyway? Oh yeah. That Robotnik guy. He sure knows how to make himself feel right at home, huh?" she muttered as Shadow sat up and waved a green crystal-like object in front of Deiter. "What's that?"

"You want it? You really want it?" Shadow teased the Dark Chao, "Let me see what's in the box and I'll give you this whole Chaos Drive!" Deiter watched it wave back and forth, practically drooling all over the package.

"Rouge wants to give it to Omochao." he protested half-heartedly. Shadow grinned wider.

"Rouge won't find out. I'll still give it to Omochao. I just want to see what it is." he purred. Deiter followed the drive and whined. Finally, he gave in. The box and crystal changed hands and Shadow set to work on ripping off the paper. Cammy scooted closer to see what it was. Slowly, Shadow lifted the lid of the box and scowled at what he saw. "Big surprise. It's a jewel." he grumbled. Cammy reached into the little box and pulled out a diamond. She peered at it.

"It's not a jewel. Least, not one you wear. It's a gear, made out of solid diamond!" she exclaimed. Shadow shivered and rubbed at his nose.

"You're telling me I tramped around a dark jungle, got totally lost in a temple, got my face smacked by trees, Chao and stone walls, and had a mess of bugs use me as a buffet dinner for a stupid diamond gear?! Rouge is gonna die." Shadow grumbled, "Does she have any idea what I've been through?"

"Maybe not. But now we know what Robotnik's after." Cammy pointed out. Shadow scowled again and sniffed.

"Doesn't explain why he wants it." he muttered as he took back the gear. He looked up at the door. "So, how exactly are we supposed to open that?" Cammy dug around in her backpack and pulled out what looked like a crystal totem.

"With this!" she exclaimed, holding it out for Shadow to see. He rubbed his nose again and sniffed.

"What are you gonna do? Wave it over the door and say 'Bippity boppity boo'?" he retorted. Cammy gave him a playful push and stood up.

"Nope. Watch this." she replied and stuck the totem into a hole in the door that had the same shape. The door shook and began to open. "It's a key. The ancient Chao didn't use normal keys. They lose them too easily. Instead, they made toys and relics for keys. Easy to keep track of and they made great playthings." Cammy explained as the door continued to open. Shadow stood up and wiped his nose again, making another face. His throat felt scratchy and he didn't like it. He followed Cammy into the chamber.

* * *

Tails tried several times to call Sonic on the radio but got no answer. Rouge walked along beside him, watching the little fox.

"Did you get anything?" she asked. Tails shook his head.

"Not a peep. I'm getting worried. What if Sonic actually fell for one of Eggman's tricks? We'd better go look for him." he replied. Rouge pouted.

"But we should find Shadow first!" she said in a huff. Tails checked the map and printed a copy. He handed it to her.

"Here! You find Shadow! I'll find Sonic!" he decided and walked off in another direction, trying to find a route that would take him back to where he had last seen the blue hedgehog. Rouge rolled her eyes and pressed on. Grabbing her satellite phone, she dialed and waited. The phone was answered.

"Shadow? This is Rouge. Have you delivered the package yet?" she asked.

"Rouge! You back-stabbing, flea-bitten, brat bat! You've got me in the middle of a crazy temple in a stupid jungle over a lousy diamond gear! What were you thinking, risking my life over a stupid jewel?! And no thanks to you, I also lost my wallet!" Shadow yelled back.

"Since when did you start carrying a wallet around?! You're immortal, you can't die, remember? And who said you could look in the box?!" Rouge snapped back, "Where's Deiter?!"

"Your crazy cat is here with me and a few brain cells short thanks to him smacking into a stone door! The only reason why the stupid thing's still alive is Cammy's holding it and I don't want to run her over with the little punk!" Shadow yelled back.

"Don't threaten my little Chao! You get that gear to Omochao right now!" Rouge ordered.

"You're not the boss of me!" Shadow yelled.

"And I still don't think you're the real Shadow, Hedgehog! So get that gear to him! Now!" Rouge yelled back and hung up before Shadow could say anything else.

* * *

Cammy blinked at Shadow as he throttled the phone in his hands, shaking it as if he was wringing someone's neck. She and Deiter just stood and watched him shake the thing over and over, sniffling every once in a while.

"You stupid, stupid, stupid bat girl! You're sitting pretty at home while I'm running around here trying to keep my head on my shoulders! Just because I'm immortal doesn't mean I go chasing around looking for things to try to kill me!" Shadow ranted, shaking the phone. "I lost my wallet, my friend is lying on the floor looking dead as a five-year-old battery and all you care about is that stupid diamond!" He finally stopped, dropping to his knees and shaking as he looked down at Omochao's tiny body. "Omochao, speak to me! You can't be dead! You're a robot!" he cried. Cammy knelt down with him and picked up the little mechanical Chao.

"I'm sorry, Shadow. We didn't make it to see if he met that star or not." she murmured as she opened a little door in his back and studied the machinery, "His gear's run down and the clockwork stopped." She pat Shadow on the shoulder reassuringly. He jerked his head up.

"Gear? Gear!" Shadow pulled out the diamond gear, "He needs a new gear?! He'll get a new gear!" he declared and took him from Cammy. He poked around inside until he found the old gear, a cracked brass object, and pulled it out. He grabbed the diamond one, shoved it inside and slapped the door closed. He twisted the wind up key and put Omochao down, waiting anxiously. Cammy and Deiter watched.

"Shadow, I don't think you were supposed to just stick the gear in him." Cammy whispered. Shadow wiped away a few leftover tears and sniffed again.

"Rouge said give the gear to Omochao, and that's just what I did. If she has a problem with it, she can take it up with my Chaos Control!" he growled and stared at the robot, hoping, hoping that it would work. Finally, the little eyes opened and blinked sleepily.

"Huh? What's going on? Where am I?" he muttered, looking around and finally focused on Shadow. "Shadow? What's going on?" he asked. Shadow whooped and scooped him up, hugging him.

"Omochao! You're alive! You're okay!" he cried and danced around the chamber with him. Omochao struggled a bit and flew in front of him.

"Shadow! Get a hold of yourself! Cammy's watching!" he scolded and pointed. Shadow looked in her direction, blushing as she smiled and winked at him.

"You look like a good dancer. That gives me an idea of what to do on our date once I catch you." she teased and laughed. Omochao stretched and yawned.

"I took a nice long nap and now I feel great! Hey, Shadow! What are you doing in this place?" he asked the hedgehog.

"Looking for you. And you feel great because I gave you a new gear." Shadow pointed out. Omochao blinked and smiled.

"Really? Thanks!" he replied.

"Now that we've done what we were supposed to do, let's get out of here!" Cammy declared. Shadow was just about to agree when the wall nearby suddenly exploded. He jumped and covered Cammy up while the Chao hid behind them until the dust settled. They looked up in shock at what came stomping through the hole in the wall.

It was a robot, yellow and two-legged with four arms. The clawed hands grabbed at the air and the laser blaster shot into the air. In the cockpit was Sonic! He was unconscious, with a strange helmet on his head and the rest of his body trapped in some weird gel up to his neck. The robot walked up to Shadow and Cammy, then paused.

"What... what's that monster?" Cammy stammered, staring up at it. Shadow peered at it, spotted Sonic, and looked surprised.

"Sonic! Sonic's in there!" he exclaimed. Eggman stepped in from beyond the wall in his walker, a remote in his hands.

"There's that voice again! I'm sure I know who it is!" he declared and stared at Shadow, who stared back at him. "Shadow?! Alive?! I thought you were dead!" Eggman shrieked.

"Thanks for telling me. And here I thought I was a zombie." Shadow retorted, "What have you done to Sonic?! Get him out of there! Now!" he added angrily. Eggman shook his finger.

"And here I thought you would enjoy this. If you want that spiny spoilsport so bad, fight him and see if you can get him out of there! Ha ha! I'm quite thankful for you, Miss Hedgehog, for leading me to this grand prize!" he laughed and pressed a button. Shadow looked back at Cammy angrily.

"Cammy! You led him to us?!" he demanded. She shook her head, eyes wide.

"That's the guy who pulled me out of the trap! He asked me to look for someone with a Chao and a package...! Oh no! That was...! But I didn't call him!" she cried, staring at him. Shadow growled and looked back at the robot.

"Get the Chao and stand back! This is not gonna be easy!" he yelled and prepared to fight. The robot took on a similar stance. "We'll talk after I win!"

"So she's Cammy! Ha, ha! She never had to say a word! The tracking chip in her radio was what led me right to you, once I had my lovely robot set up! I was going to use it on her for a test, but you'll do just fine! Go, Sonicbot!" Eggman cheered and the robot lunged. Shadow leaped up and tried to Homing Attack the cockpit's dome. He bounced right off and hit the floor. "Hah! The dome is indestructible! You can't win! Give up already! You're a Robotnik creation, so just come back to my side and I won't hurt you and your little friends!"

"Fat chance, Dr. Robotnik!" Shadow yelled and ran for a wall. Sonicbot chased after him. "Sonic! Sonic, wake up!" he called back and ran up the wall.

"It's no use! He can't hear you as long as he wears that helmet! And he's completely under my power! He doesn't even realize what's happening!" Eggman laughed. Shadow jumped from the wall and flipped over to try to hit the back of the Sonicbot. An arm lashed out and grabbed him.

"Shadow!" Cammy cried as the three fingers closed around Shadow's little body. He struggled to get free, pushing down with both arms on the fist that clenched around him. Eggman laughed as he watched Sonicbot step away from the wall and hold Shadow above itself. Shadow was still struggling, wriggling and growling. Finally, he sneezed. It seemed as if everyone froze. Shadow sneezed again and then began coughing.

"What's happening to me?!" Shadow yelled, "Rouge! What you did to me?!" He coughed harder and went back to fighting to get free.

"Shadow? Did you catch a cold?" Cammy called up to him. "You're gonna have to drink plenty of fluids and stay in bed!"

"I'm a little busy at the moment!" Shadow called back down. Eggman laughed harder and pounded his fist on the egg walker.

"The ultimate life form caught a cold! Ohhohohoho!" he snorted and chortled. Shadow grumbled and kept fighting. Eggman sat up and laughed again. "All right! Sonicbot! Finish him off! No life form can survive getting burned up! Torch him!" he ordered and snickered.

Sonicbot moved the flamethrower and aimed it at Shadow, who froze and stared at the arm in fear. Fire, fire, fire! He hated fire! He was afraid of fire! The gun had a small flame at the tip of it. Any moment now, that flame was going to explode into a fireball that swallow him up! Shadow couldn't take his eyes off of it, breaking out into a sweat as he pulled away as far as he could in the robot's grip. Suddenly, the arm went slack and fell to the robot's side. The fist holding Shadow captive went loose and he shook himself out of his trance, looking down at it in surprise. What was going on?

"Oh no! The stupid gear broke! Blasted cheap parts!" Eggman griped and grabbed his box of copies. Shadow wriggled and got free as the mad doctor ran over to replace the gear.

"So that's why you wanted the diamond gear! Diamonds don't break!" Shadow exclaimed as he scurried over to the dome. He coughed hard, covering his mouth with his hand, then shook it off and pried at the dome. It popped open and Shadow pulled the helmet off of Sonic.

"So you're the teacher's aide with the box! You had the gear all along! That explains how it got here in less than a day. You warped!" Eggman exclaimed as he switched gears as fast as he could. Shadow reached into the gel and grabbed onto Sonic, pulling him out of it. Sonic slumped forward, still out cold.

"What did you do to him?!" Shadow snapped at Eggman. Not waiting for an answer, Shadow flattened his quills down, curving the sharp edges down along his back so they wouldn't hurt the blue hedgehog. He pulled Sonic onto his back, perching on top of the empty robot as he pulled his arms down around his neck. Sonic's head bumped a bit against his own, dangling down over one shoulder. "Sonic, no offense, but you need a breath-mint." Shadow muttered and jumped from the robot's top all the way to the ground. Eggman peeped around the robot's legs and saw him escape with Cammy and the Chao.

"Huh? Hey! Come back here with my robot's brain! Thief!" he shouted and threw down his tool, stomping around angrily. He stopped and thought hard, then smiled. "Wait a second. Shadow's cold may slow him down some. I could use him instead of Sonic in my robot. After all, he is Robotnik property. It's only fitting that Shadow helps me rule the world. He hasn't granted my wish yet. Now's the perfect time to collect on past dues!" Eggman laughed and called his robotic minions for new orders.


	5. Shady Intentions

Chapter Five

Cammy and Shadow ran until they were in a whole new chamber far from the crazed scientist. Deiter raced ahead speedily on all fours, thanks to all the little cheetahs he drew power from. He paused when the others stopped and sat put, watching them with a cocked head. Cammy bent over and put her hands on her knees, panting as she tried to catch her breath. Shadow did the same, holding on to Sonic's arms so he wouldn't fall off.

"That was a close call!" Omochao remarked and yelped as Shadow finally collapsed under Sonic's weight and the effects of the cold. His face was a little red and he was still sweating, sprawled out on the floor with Sonic lying on his back.

"My head hurts." he complained. "Now I feel hot instead of cold." Cammy pulled Sonic off and dragged him to one side. Then she dug around in Shadow's backpack, pulling out the first aid kit. Flipping it open, she searched through it and pulled out a bottle of cold pills.

"This will help." she remarked and pulled out two pills. She helped Shadow sit up and gave him the medicine with the canteen of water. "Here, take these." she told him. Shadow took the medicine and coughed again, covering his mouth. "It'll take a while, but those pills will help you feel better." Cammy murmured and went to tend to Sonic. Shadow crawled to him as well. "If you're going to be around us, wear that mask in the kit. Colds are contagious, don't you know that?" she told him. Shadow grabbed the white mask and tied it around his head, covering his mouth and nose as the quills returned to their normal positions.

"Sorry. It's my first time getting sick." he replied and looked down at Sonic. "Will he be okay?" he asked worriedly. Cammy felt his forehead and dug into the kit, pulling out a thermometer. She stuck it in Sonic's mouth and waited. Then she pulled it out and checked it. She wiped it off, shook it, and stuck it in Shadow's mouth after lifting the mask a little.

"Sonic has a normal temperature. He'll wake up on his own soon enough. Other than the fact he's out colder than my steak in the freezer at home, he's perfectly healthy." Cammy declared and pulled the thermometer out of Shadow's mouth, checking it. "You, on the other hand, are running a slight fever. We'll rest here until you feel better." she decided as she put everything up and unpacked a blanket. She covered Sonic with it and then grabbed a spare for Shadow. "Here. Get some rest, Omochao, Deiter and I will stand guard." she told him. Shadow looked unsure, then lay back to try to get some sleep.

* * *

Tails finally locked onto the signal of Sonic's radio and found it lying on the floor of the chamber where he found the machine. Tails picked the radio up and looked worried, growing even more worried when he heard a booming sound not very far from him.

"I hope that didn't have anything to do with Sonic." Tails muttered and moved on, using his cannons to take out anything that came his way.

Meanwhile, Rouge continued moving towards the central chamber in hopes of finding Shadow and the gear. She tried calling, but no one answered.

"That hedgehog got into trouble, I can feel it!" she grumbled as she walked along. "He'd better not have lost that gear to Eggman!" She heard the explosion and scowled. "That sounds like major trouble! Why am I not surprised?" she went on and continued moving forward.

* * *

Shadow woke up later that night, not because he wanted to, but because he felt something, a strange energy but a familiar one. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes, then looked around. There was Sonic, still asleep, but starting to come around himself. There was Cammy, flat on her back, her mouth opening wide with each silent snore. There was Deiter, curled up in a ball next to Omochao. Where was the energy coming from?

"It feels like the energy from a...." Shadow started to say to himself when a bright flash of light erupted in front of the group. It pulsed a few times, then something small and black dropped out of the light and landed on the floor. "What's that?!" he exclaimed as the creature landed on its head and flipped over onto its back.

"WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" the creature screamed and Cammy shot upright with a startled cry. Sonic stirred and sat up, rubbing at his eyes.

"Hey, Tails. Turn down the waterworks. I'm trying to sleep." he mumbled and blinked as he looked around. "Hey, this ain't Station Square! Oh, wait. Now I remember. What happened to the weird machine that was making the funky sound?" he asked.

"That's how you were captured by Dr. Robotnik?" Shadow remarked and covered his ears. "Gaagh! What is that horrible sound?! Turn it off!" he added, voice slightly muffled by the mask. Cammy stood up and cautiously walked towards the black creature, who was now kicking and flailing its arms around.

"Waaah! Waaah! Waaaahh!" it cried. Cammy stopped and gave it a quick look-over, then giggled a little; a nervous, relieved sound.

"It's... it's a little hedgehog." she told Shadow.

"A what?" he asked back. Cammy reached down and picked up the black bundle, setting it on its feet.

"Waah!" the little black hedgehog wailed, clutching a small blue doll in his arms.

"It's a little baby hedgehog." Cammy repeated, "Ain't he cute? Look, he's got a little red stripe on his head and these cute little red sneakers and a CTU over here and his own little dolly."

"Tell it to shut up. My headache's coming back." Shadow grumbled as Sonic stared at him. "What are you looking at? I've got a cold. Laugh and I'll beat you within an inch of your mortal life." he added under his breath.

"Shadow! Be nice! You grouch." Cammy scolded and knelt down by the little hedgehog. "Hello! My name is Cammy! What's yours?" she asked him sweetly. The child stopped crying and stared at her with dark green eyes, surprised. "You've got pretty eyes. They're my favorite color, you know that?" she added. The hedgehog stepped back from her and fumbled for the CTU, never moving his gaze away. He pushed a button and an Angel Chao popped out, basic in appearance.

"Angie, who's this weird lady?" the hedgehog asked the Chao. Angie looked up at her and blinked.

"I'd say, a tomb raider. But then again I could be wrong." the Chao replied.

"She's talking to me. What do I do?" the little hedgehog asked Angie.

"For one thing, stop staring at her. Stop squeezing your Sonic doll so tight and pick up your Chaos Emerald. And feed me." the Angel Chao replied. The hedgehog dropped his doll, reached out and picked up a blue Chaos Emerald, then dug around in a pouch tied around his waist.

"I gots chocolate and some jelly beans and an apple." the hedgehog told Angie.

"Shady, I told you not to eat so much candy. If you're gonna go on a trip, bring good food." Angie grumbled, "Your dad would have been very mad at you if he knew you were pigging out on candy." The little hedgehog wailed again. "Oops. Sorry! I didn't mean it! Here! Have a red jelly bean!" Angie stammered. Shady sniffed and ate the bean. "So, is this the right timeline?"

"Ummm. I dunno." Shady replied as Cammy waited for them to remember she was there.

"So, your name is Shady? That's a cute name. Who gave you such a clever and cute name?" Cammy interrupted. Shady looked up at her and pouted.

"My daddy. He said it's 'cause I'm sneaky like him."

"And where did you get that Emerald?"

"From the sky."

"Is that what the star thing was all about?" Shadow muttered, "'Cause he looked like one coming out of a Chaos Control warp. Just how many other hedgehogs in this world are able to use Chaos Control?! Is there like a club or something for it?!" Sonic crawled over to Shady and picked up the doll.

"Hey. It looks like me. Cool." he remarked. Shady snatched the doll away.

"Mine!" he yelled and sat down, glaring at each of them.

"Shady! That's not nice. Now apologize to the nice people." Angie scolded.

"But they're strangers! Daddy told me not to talk to strangers!" Shady wailed.

"We're not strangers!" Cammy assured him. "See? I'm Camilla Maria Hedgehog. That's Sonic the Hedgehog and that's Shadow the Hedgehog. That's Deiter and that's Omochao." Shady stared at Sonic.

"You're Sonic?! Wow! You're my hero!" he exclaimed happily, "And Shadow?! Double wow! He's the best!" He looked around, suddenly worried. "But this isn't the city. I was supposed to be in the city with Sonic by himself. That's when it happened." he mumbled.

"I'm a hero. Yeah. So, where are you from, little guy?" Sonic asked him.

"Uh... Station Square. In the future." Shady replied and smiled. "I used my Chaos Time Warp power! But, sometimes I can't get all the bugs out."

"I told you to make a clearer picture!" Angie exclaimed, "They told you to form a clear picture of where and when you want to be whenever you warp!"

"Oops. Mommy won't be happy." Shady muttered, "Well, we can try again and maybe get it right." He sighed. "But I'm tired now. Chaos Time Warp makes me tired and hungry."

"Shadow, give him some of your fruit." Cammy told him. Shadow scowled and folded his arms on his chest.

"Why do I have to feed him? He's not my kid! Tell him to ask his dad, wherever the man is." he yelled back.

"Don't be so cold!" Cammy snapped. Sonic cocked his head.

"Actually, he's got a point. Hey, Shady. Where is your dad?" he asked the boy. Shady looked sad and hugged the doll tighter.

"Daddy isn't around anymore. And my uncle's not around either. They both went to someplace better." he replied.

"They died? How awful. How did they die?" Cammy asked softly. Shady wiped at his eyes and sniffled.

"My daddy got blowed up. My uncle got in an accident. My uncle went first, then my daddy." he replied. "Now I live with my mommy and when she goes away I live with my other uncle. He lives on a big flying island." Shady giggled a little. "He's silly. He talks to a great big jewel."

"Your uncle's Knuckles in the future? That I have to see!" Sonic laughed. Shady pouted.

"You can't see him. You're not there." he pointed out and played with his doll. "That's why I'm going to the past. To stop you from going away. If you don't go away, then my daddy will be back."

"That's all very fascinating. Not." Shadow muttered and stood up. "I'm going out for a while. Call me if anything else pops into this world. Preferably, my wallet." Sonic and Cammy watched him leave and went back to talking with Shady.

"So, you know Knuckles? How can he be your uncle? He's an echidna." Sonic pointed out. Shady looked blank. "You are a hedgehog. Knuckles is an echidna. You're not related."

"He's my uncle." Shady insisted. Then he yawned. "I'm sleepy now. Good night." he added and lay down, curling up with his doll as he drifted off to sleep. Sonic studied him closely.

"Beat me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this little guy kinda look like a certain grouchy black hedgehog?" he asked Cammy. She blinked at him and studied Shady, nodding slightly. "Shady is black, like Shadow. He's got a red stripe on him, like Shadow. He's even got shoes that look like Shadow's sneakers. He's got a Chaos Emerald!"

"But Shadow has multiple stripes all over his quills, which are turned up. Shady has one stripe that ends in a zig-zag on his main quill and the others are turned down, like yours, Sonic. His eyes are green, not reddish-brown." Cammy pointed out. She grinned. "And you've got green eyes." Sonic blanched.

"Please don't say you think he's my kid in the future. I'm not ready to settle down. I want to run free for another few years before the thought even comes into my head!" he exclaimed.

"Accidents do happen." Cammy teased and smiled down at the little black hedgehog. "He's such a cute little thing." She tapped at something shield-shaped and metallic on the back of one of Shady's wrists. "I wonder what this could be. I've never seen anything like it."

"What's in that pouch?" Sonic wondered, opening it up and looking in. Besides the chocolate bar and candy and apple, there was also a small letter. Sonic pulled it out and studied it. The letter was small and had a single word written on the front of the envelope. "It says 'Shadow' on it." he muttered and opened the envelope as Cammy watched.

"It's not polite to read other people's mail." she warned him. Sonic pulled out the paper and unfolded it. He skimmed it and frowned.

"It's weird. The only thing written on this paper is 'Live and learn.' That's all. It doesn't say who wrote it or for who it is." he remarked. "Live and learn. It sounds familiar. I know I heard someone say it before."

* * *

The phone rang again and Shadow picked up this time. Rouge launched into a fit of yelling.

"Shadow! Why didn't you answer the phone earlier?! I've been calling for hours! Did you deliver the gear?!" Rouge snapped. Shadow held the phone away from him.

"Yes, I did. Now quiet! My head hurts and I have a cold, no thanks to you!" he yelled back.

"As long as you gave him the gear. Let's get out of here so I can think of something. There must be a way to stop Eggman's new machine." Rouge answered.

"If you're talking about that yellow robot with the four arms, I don't think that will be an easy thing to do. I went up against it and nearly got clobbered." Shadow pointed out grumpily.

"That's impossible! That thing can't move without the gear and a power source!" Rouge exclaimed. Shadow leaned back against a wall and coughed a few times. He wasn't feeling any better. Maybe those cold pills worked better if he had something to eat. "You sound horrible."

"I feel horrible." Shadow muttered, digging the toe of his shoe into the dust on the floor. "And it turns out Dr. Robotnik made copies of the gear. He used those and he used Sonic as a power supply and core brain. I bailed him out and he's resting up."

"So that's what else he needed. A living person to act as a battery and AI core. How the heck did he get Sonic?" Rouge asked.

"He got caught by one of those old traps here." Shadow sighed and flicked an ear. There was a sound nearby, and this was a familiar one. Robots! "Gotta go. I hear something and it's asking for a smashing." he added and hung up the phone. He zipped around the corner and pulled a Fire Somersault right into a row of E-1000 robots, smashing them to bits. "Gotcha!" he exclaimed and started coughing again. As he stood there, trying to clear his throat, an Artificial Chaos dropped down from the ceiling on him, wrapping its tendrils around him.

"Hey! Let go!" Shadow yelled angrily, struggling against the gel-like creature. He dropped the phone and started kicking as the creature pulled him closer to it. "Let go! You're no match for me, you walking pile of Jell-O! I'll...." Shadow's threats were cut off by another fit of coughs, giving the Artificial Chaos time to pull him completely into its liquid body. Shadow continued struggling as the Artificial Chaos slithered back to Eggman's hideout.

* * *

Tails perked his ears up at the sound of Shadow's voice. He grew even more worried and nervous. First Sonic disappeared, now Shadow was freaking out. The two strongest hedgehogs he knew and both were taken out. What is up with this temple?!

"Creepy, creepy! Sonic! Shadow! Where are you guys!" Tails called out and clicked the radio on, "Rouge! Did you hear that?!"

"Rouge, here. Yeah. That sounded like Shadow. I called him a couple of minutes ago and he said he delivered the gear and caught a cold. Then he heard something coming his way and hung up. After that, I heard him scream from somewhere in the temple." the bat answered. "I'm starting to really hate this place. Let's regroup and get out of here!"

"Not without Sonic and Shadow! Look at your map. See the green chamber? I'll meet you there and we'll both find them and get out." Tails planned.

"That reminds me. Shadow also said he found Sonic. Eggman caught him in some trap and stuck him in a robot as a battery and brain. He turned the robot on Shadow, but Shadow was able to pull Sonic out." Rouge added.

"Then if we can find where Shadow was, maybe we'll find Sonic." Tails muttered and started walking on again.

It took a little while, but he and Rouge were able to meet up and headed out to track down the missing hedgehogs. The temple was huge and confusing with all its twists and turns. Rouge gave Tails her phone so he could use it to track down the signal of the other phone. Following the course Tails mapped out, they came across the phone lying forgotten on the floor amid a trail of wrecked robots and puddles of some strange liquid.

"E-1000s and Artificial Chaos. Shadow could handle them well when he was healthy, but now that he's sick one of them may have gotten the jump on him." Tails muttered and looked around.

"Shadow! Shadow!" a voice called out. Tails and Rouge turned and watched as Cammy and Sonic ran up to meet them. "It's you! That fox! Tails, right?" Cammy asked as she slowed to a stop, carrying a little black hedgehog in her arms. The kid was crying, hugging a Sonic doll and an Angel Chao. Sonic carried a Dark Chao and Omochao floated beside him.

"Sonic! You're okay! Hi, Cammy! When did you get here? Who's that with you?" Tails asked back. Cammy rocked the little hedgehog and hummed a little tune. The boy calmed down a little and turned to look up at Tails, wide-eyed and curious. "Hey, it kinda looks like a mini-Shadow, only cuter."

"That's what I told her." Sonic pointed out, giving Cammy a slight glare, "That's Shady, a hedgehog kid from the future. He came to the past to prevent his uncle and father from dying, and to keep me from vanishing or something. He said he went too far back in time, so he's resting before he gathers up the energy for another Chaos Time Warp."

"He's got his own Chaos Emerald and this is his Chao, Angie. Shady won't say who his parents are, but he did say that Knuckles is his other uncle in the future." Cammy added.

"Hi, Shady. My name's Tails. Do you know where I am in the future?" Tails asked the little hedgehog, who was sucking on his thumb.

"Hospital. You said you were a washing machine last week. Mommy said it's 'cause Sonic went away in the accident. That's why you blew up your house and stuff." Shady replied after pulling his thumb out. He smiled. "The doctor said you were getting better. Last month you tried to bite anybody who walked in."

The group stared at Shady, then looked at Tails, who had turned very pale.

"I'm a washing machine?" he echoed. Shady laughed.

"See? Just like that!" he giggled. Rouge laughed as well.

"The fox boy winds up in a nut-house, hah! So much for your tinkering with that airplane of yours. I'm going to be rich and have lots of jewels, just you wait and see! Isn't that right, little hedgehog?" she declared proudly.

"Nope. You went spying, got caught, and went bye-bye, too. Never came back." Shady replied and looked sad, "I liked you. You had a pretty house and lots of pretty rocks. You let me play with them, but I had to promise not to take any of them home." Rouge paled and shook her head.

"I've gotta learn to stop spying for jewels. Not enough pay, and I wind up dead in the future." she muttered.

"Where's Shadow?" Sonic asked, changing the subject. "He said he would be out for a bit, but he never came back to the camp."

"We think Eggman got to him. There's his phone and here're all the robots he smashed. We think one jumped him." Tails replied.

"Then what are we waiting for? An invite? Let's go find that rotten egg and smear his face all over the floor! We've gotta bail Shadow out!" Sonic declared.

"Right! Besides, McBurger won't give him a full paycheck if he shows up late for work." Omochao added.

"Did you get the gear?" Rouge asked him as the group raced off to find Shadow.

"Yeah! Shadow gave it to me! I feel great! That gear really makes me feel like a brand new robot! It was great for him to replace my gear with a nice new one!" Omochao replied cheerfully. Rouge stared at him in shock.

"He put the gear _in_ you?! **SHADOW!!!**" she shrieked angrily.


	6. Eggman's Attack

Chapter Six

Shadow struggled as the gel in the robot held him in place. It went all the way up to his neck and it was cold and slick, sticky and thick. Eggman made a few adjustments near him and grinned.

"Are we all comfy in there?" he teased, "Really, Shadow, I thought you'd be glad to be back on my side. After all, you _are_ a top secret military weapon. I'm just helping you realize your true potential." He poked at the mask and pulled it off. "And this is getting dirty." Eggman tossed it into a wastebasket as Shadow began to sneeze.

"Aaahhh...." the hedgehog began. Eggman grabbed a handkerchief and put it to Shadow's face, just in time to catch the sneeze. He gave him a quick wipe and put the fabric away. "Ugh. Thanks. But I'm still not helping you! I'm no weapon! I was created to help mankind, not destroy them! The professor's research was meant to find cures for diseases and extend life for people!" Shadow snapped.

"My Shadowbot is almost complete, so it's pretty pointless for you to complain now. This is a complete turnaround, isn't it, Shadow? You were once the mastermind, ordering me about. Now I know better. You were created by my great-grandfather and, therefore, should be serving me. Now stop squirming about." Eggman told him and finally got the helmet strapped onto Shadow's head.

"My headache's coming back." Shadow grumbled as Eggman headed to his walker and flicked a switch. He then came back and pulled the black wallet out to examine the contents again. Shadow blinked at it and yelled again. "And that's my wallet! Hand it over!" he added. Eggman waved at him and pocketed it again.

"Then next time don't leave it where I can get it." he lectured and waited patiently for Sonic and his friends to find the signal and track him down.

* * *

"Sonic, I'm picking up a signal on radar. It looks like it's coming from the central chamber." Tails reported after an hour of walking. Sonic stopped his complaining and looked up at him in mild interest.

"Yeah? So?" he asked. Tails shook his head and sighed. Why did he even bother? Because he was Sonic's biggest fan and he treated Tails like an equal, even if he didn't get what he was saying.

"It's one of Eggman's signals. Maybe Shadow got free and is trashing him and now Eggman wants us to save him." he replied, "Or maybe, it's a trap and Eggman is luring us in so he can squash us."

"If Eggman used you as a battery and brain against Shadow, he could use Shadow against us." Rouge added, "That robot is tough, according to Shadow's reports."

"Since when did Shadow start calling you boss?" Sonic muttered. Rouge smirked at him.

"Since I told him it was going to involve Omochao." she replied and frowned at the robot. "Which reminds me... how am I going to get that gear out of him?"

"You're not getting my gear! Shadow gave it to me fair and square! It's mine from now on!" Omochao scolded, "And carry your own Chao!" Rouge rolled her eyes.

"All right. Don't throw a fit. Deiter! Return!" she ordered and held out her CTU. The Demon Chao vanished into the device, leaving Sonic to carry a blue Chaos Emerald in its place. "Ooh! An Emerald!"

"_Mine!_" Shady snapped and held out his hands. The metal shields on the backs of his hands exploded and metal covered his fingers, wrapping them to sharp slender points. "It's **my** Emerald! The sky gave it to me! I need it to save my uncle and Daddy!"

"What about me?" Sonic asked, "Don't forget to save me from whatever you were blabbing about." Shady looked at him in confusion.

"I just said I was gonna." he answered and held up his hands with a smile. "Like them? Uncle Knuckles gave them to me! They're called Pick Claws!" he added, "I can dig with them! Uncle Knuckles showed me how, but Daddy used to get mad and tell me to stop playing in the dirt. I got these for my fourth birthday! Daddy gave me a shot and my doll. I hates shots."

"A shot? What kind of shot?" Cammy asked, curious about the boy she carried with her.

"He said it would make me just like him. I get a shot every year and sometimes more if Daddy thinks I need it. Plus I get special pills and swim in a tank." Shady went on and giggled, "I wear a mask to go underwater. I can stay there for a long time! I can stay underwater for three whole days!" Cammy looked shocked.

"That sounds like how they treated me back at G.U.N.'s labs! They did all that to me to make me a hybrid of the ultimate life form! Shady's father must be trying to make him into an ultimate life form!" she exclaimed to Sonic. She turned to Shady. "Shady, what is your dad's name?"

"Daddy? You know." Shady replied and smiled, "Can I have a candy now?"

"How about a chili dog?" Sonic offered. Shady scrunched up his face.

"This early? I eat chili dogs for lunch. Daddy tries to make them right, but my uncle does it better. Shh, don't tell Daddy! He'll get mad and sad, and chase my uncle away, then I get stuck eating mashed tapatas and peas and chicken." He made a face, "I hates mashed tapatas and peas!"

"Tails? What's a tapata?" Sonic asked his buddy.

"Baby talk for potato." Tails replied, "Hey, Shady. Who's your mom?" Shady looked up at him.

"You know." he replied mysteriously and giggled again as his hands went back to normal, "Wheee! This is fun! I can't wait to tell Mommy all the neat things I saw here! Live and learn! I learned a lot!"

"That's it! I know I heard someone say that, but I don't remember who! It's driving me nuts!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Then forget it and let's go! That signal is stronger and Eggman may be doing something horrible to Shadow!" Tails exclaimed.

"Not as horrible as what Shadow's gonna do to Rouge once he gets over that cold." Cammy muttered as they walked on, following the signal.

* * *

The group ran into the chamber where Eggman stood waiting for them. He laughed and stuck another gear into the yellow machine. Rouge yelped and pointed at it.

"That's it! That's the machine I was telling Shadow about!" she cried. The robot stomped forward a few steps and Sonic could see into the cockpit. Shadow was wide awake, but staring straight ahead with unseeing eyes, the red-brown color dark. The helmet had taken complete control of his brain and was using him to power and move the robot.

"And there's Shadow in the cockpit! Shadow! Snap out of it!" Sonic yelled out at it. Eggman laughed again as he scurried into his walker.

"He can't hear you! With that helmet on, he's under my power, just like you were!" the mad doctor declared, "Go get them, Shadowbot! Get my diamond gear back!"

The Shadowbot grabbed at the hedgehogs, bat and fox, all of whom dodged the attack. Cammy shoved Shady into Rouge's arms.

"Here! Look after Shady! I've got to help Sonic get Shadow out of that thing!" she blurted and whipped out the Tiki Rod. "All right! Let's pound this thing into a manhole cover!" Cammy shouted and raced after the robot. Shady squirmed and wriggled as Rouge tried to hold him and rock him back and forth.

"There, there! Cute little hedgehog!" she cooed, "Cammy and Sonic will save Shadow, you'll see!"

"I wanna help! My energy's all full now! I can help!" Shady exclaimed. Rouge and Tails stared at him in surprise.

"Shady, you can't fight! You're just a baby!" Tails told him, "You stay here with us and be safe!" Shady squirmed harder until he popped out of Rouge's grip and picked up his Chaos Emerald.

"I'm not a baby! I'm five years old!" Shady snapped and held it up, "But not for long! Chaos Time Speed!" The Chaos Emerald glowed and surrounded Shady in a cocoon of light. Tails and Rouge watched in awe as the tiny hedgehog suddenly erupted into a teen roughly the same age as Sonic. Shady tossed the Emerald up and down in his right hand, grinning at them. "See? Told you I could help."

"Shady?! What happened?" Tails exclaimed in shock. Shady looked himself over and approved the look. He was the same height as Shadow and his quills had turned up instead of curving down. His sneakers changed and resembled those of Shadow. With the new shoes were a red vest, red beret on his head, the same Pick Claws and a metallic backpack. On his left hand was the Flame Ring, but Tails didn't know if it had belonged to Sonic, Shadow, or was an extra Shady had with him, and perched on his nose were a pair of black sunglasses with what looked like a green targeting light on one lens.

"Like it? This is what I'll look like in the future when I grow up naturally. The beret and vest I got for my birthday from my aunt, the backpack from Rouge, the Pick Claws from Knuckles, the sunglasses from you, Tails, the speed lessons from Sonic and the sneaking and hovering lessons from Shadow. I also got aerobatic lessons from Cammy." Shady replied and laughed, "Cool, huh?"

"Where'd you get the Flame Ring?" Tails asked. Shady looked at it and smiled sadly.

"My dad." he replied.

"And who's your dad?"

"Who else? The guy in the cockpit!" Shady answered brightly and raced off after the Shadowbot. Tails and Rouge stared at each other in shock and disbelief.

_"Shadow is Shady's father?!"_ they exclaimed to each other.

Shadowbot was firing the flamethrower at Sonic and Cammy, who dodged and dashed about to avoid it, all while trying to get close enough to pop open the cockpit. Every now and then, Sonic would jump up and bop an arm to knock the Shadowbot backwards against a wall. Cammy would then hit it with the rod.

"In about ten minutes the gear will break! We'll get Shadow out then!" she called out to Sonic, who barely avoided a swipe from Shadowbot's tail.

"Great! Let's twiddle our thumbs for the next few minutes then!" Sonic replied sarcastically. A blur sped in and rammed one of Shadowbot's legs, throwing the machine onto its back. "Hey! What the heck was that?! It moved almost as fast as me!" the blue hedgehog exclaimed. Cammy looked around and gasped, stepping back from the robot. Shady stood perched on it, looking down at the cockpit.

"That doesn't look right. Mmm, mmm, mmm. No, no, no." he tsked and knocked on the glass. "Knock, knock! Wakey, wakey!" he added and giggled.

"Is that Shady? Wasn't he a pint-size prickly punk just a couple of minutes ago?" Sonic exclaimed as Shady glanced at him and smiled.

"Hi! I'm Shady, teen size! My Chaos Time Speed and Speed Time lets me fast forward my age and grant me some of your super-speed. Thanks for the lessons on how to control and use the speed." the black hedgehog replied, "By the way, how do we get Dad out of this tin can?" Sonic's jaw dropped open.

"Your d-dad?! You mean to say _Shadow's_ your _dad_?" he yelped as Cammy shrieked and dropped her rod. Shady nodded and put his hands behind his head, standing on the robot with one leg crossed behind the other, head cocked innocently.

"Well, yeah. How else do you think I got the black and red coloring? Quill-dye? No way! Mom would totally kill me!" he replied.

"And who... who is your mom?" Cammy stammered. Shady lifted the glasses and winked at her.

"Where do you think I got the green eyes... Mom?" he answered smugly and laughed.

"I think I'm gonna be ill." Sonic muttered, "Shadow and Cammy... that's one for the books." Cammy danced back and forth joyfully.

"I'm gonna have a baby! I'm gonna have a baby!" she squealed and then stopped, looking worried, "Will having a baby cut into my tomb raiding time? I don't want to miss out on exploring more ancient ruins and temples."

"This kid just announced his parents while standing on Shadow and you're worried about tramping around in more temples?! Are you nuts?!" Sonic yelled in exasperation. Cammy gave him a sidelong glare.

"You sound like my sister. You been talking to her?" she growled.

"I don't even know what she looks like!" Sonic snapped back as Shadowbot knocked Shady away and jumped up, swinging its tail at him and Cammy. "Whoa!" Sonic jumped and used a Bounce Attack on the robot, slamming it against a wall. Eggman was cheering, sure that his creation would prevail. The robot got to its feet, grabbed at the hedgehogs again, and missed.

"It needs another few minutes to break!" Cammy cried as Sonic jumped around to avoid the robot's attacks. "Shadow, wake up, for goodness sake!" Shadow didn't answer, just fired more lasers and flames at them. Shady re-entered the fight, kicking at the legs as much as he could. Suddenly, the robot lunged to one side. "Sonic!" Cammy exclaimed as the blue hedgehog was nabbed in Shadowbot's iron grip. He struggled.

"Let go of me, ya oversized paperweight! Put me down!" Sonic yelled. Shady looked at him in shock, then scrambled to get to him, jumping onto the arm and pulling at the fingers with all his might.

"Don't worry, Sonic! I'll save you!" Shady yelled through clenched teeth as he pulled. Shadowbot lifted his other arm and prepared to slash.

"Shady! Watch your back!" Sonic shouted as the hand shot forward and rammed Shady, hurling the future black hedgehog across the room and into a wall. The ancient stone crumbled into a hole, Shady's legs protruding from the rubble.

"Shady!" Cammy screamed, "And the temple! It's ruined!" Sonic continued to squirm, trying to free his arms as he kicked his feet furiously. Eggman clapped with evil joy.

"Good work, Shadowbot! Now crush that hedgehog and end this feud once and for all!" he ordered. The robot began to squeeze the fist tighter, and Sonic gasped for air.

"I can't breathe!" he wheezed. "Help! Cammy!" The green hedgehog held out the rod and focused.

"Tika Blade!" she cried and changed it into the long spear G.U.N. had created for her. With it, she leaped up and began to slash at the arm that held the blue hedgehog. Shadowbot knocked her away with a sweep of his other arm and continued to tighten his hold on Sonic. He continued opening and closing his mouth to try to breath, but no air could get down his throat. His struggling grew weaker.

"Sonic!" Tails cried in fear, "Hang on! I'll get you free!" Rouge jumped between the Cyclone and Shadowbot.

"You can't shoot! You could hit either Sonic or Shadow!" she cried. Tails began to cry.

"But he needs me!" he wailed. Rouge shook her head and then turned to face the Shadowbot.

"I'll give it a try!" she declared as Cammy struggled to her feet.

"But your wing is all torn up!" Tails reminded her loudly. A rumble from nearby and suddenly Shady was up and in the air.

"Hers are, but mine aren't!" he yelled and glided with metallic bat-wings right at the Shadowbot. He latched onto the back and held on. "Tails! Run over to Eggman! Take care of him! He's controlling the robot! Without him at the controls, Shadowbot can't do anything! Hurry! Sonic's stopped moving!" Shady yelled as Shadowbot swung around and flailed in an effort to throw him off. Tails marched over to Eggman, firing his lasers.

"Not fair! Who said you could get in the fight?! And who is that other black hedgehog?! I thought Shadow was the only black hedgehog in the world!" the scientist yelled as he jumped out of the walker and raced away, "I'll get you all! That new gear is an advanced version! It'll last twenty minutes, but Sonic won't make it past two!"

"Get lost!" Tails yelled and jumped into the Egg Walker to take a look at the controls. "Shady! I'm here! I'll take control of the robot!" Tails punched several buttons, but nothing happened. "It's not responding! Eggman must have locked them up! I can't stop it!" he added. Shady held on tightly as Shadowbot stomped around, squeezing Sonic and swinging its tail at Cammy when she came close to them.

"Boot up the schematics! Tell me the weak point! I'll destroy it!" Shady yelled back, "Hurry! Sonic's turning blue! And I don't mean his quills!" Tails nodded and began to tap the computer controls as fast as he could. Cammy jumped back from another attack and held out her Emerald.

"Yo, robot! You want this Emerald for your boss? Drop Sonic and I'll toss it to ya!" she baited it. The Shadowbot turned to her and threw Sonic aside, slamming him against another wall.

"Sonic!" Tails cried and got ready to jump to his aid. Shady yelled again.

"The schematics! Now!" he shrieked and activated his Pick Claws to dig into the robot's metal shell and hold on. Tails turned back to the console reluctantly. Finally, he got the blueprints on-screen.

"The gear is right where you are! In the back! If you can tear it out with the main CPU, you'll disable and destroy that thing!" Tails yelled out and raced to Sonic's side. "Sonic! Wake up! Speak to me!"

Shady pulled at the shell and ripped off the panel. Shadowbot began to reach back and claw at him as Shady held on with one hand and searched the insides with the other, tearing out wires and circuits as he did. Sparks flew around the robot as Cammy and Rouge ran behind the Cyclone for cover.

"Targeting! Activate!" Shady yelled and the green light on his sunglasses came to life, scanning the area in front and around him. It blinked in one part of the lens when an arm came at him from that side. Shady dodged and kept digging. A blink from the right, Shady moved left to avoid it. The target locked on to something in front of him and turned red. "There it is!" Shady reached in, grabbed a bundle of black and gray, then ripped out the wad of wires, silicon and one gear. The robot flailed one last time, then stiffened and fell backwards. "Yaah!"

Everyone ducked and covered their heads as rubble came down from the ceiling and dust blew out from the crash, settling on everyone. Tails had covered Sonic as best he could with himself and used his tails to shield himself. He slowly opened one eye and peeked out at the room.

"Is everyone okay?" he called out as he got up and shook himself off. Cammy and Rouge coughed and stood, both unharmed. Sonic twitched his nose, then an ear, then slowly opened his eyes, bruised and exhausted but still alive.

"Ow. What happened to Shadow?" he asked in a hoarse voice. Rouge dusted off her top and frowned.

"Typical. He nearly gets killed, and his first words are about that black hedgehog." she grumbled, "What about the women? Isn't anyone worried about us?" Cammy shook dust out of her hair and blinked.

"Shadow! Shady!" she cried and raced to the rubble. Rouge rolled her eyes.

"That answers my question." she muttered, "Everyone goes for the black guys." Tails helped Sonic to his feet and looked back at the pile of rock and metal in surprise. The hedgehog teetered, then walked slowly to the heap of debris.

"Shadow!" he called out, "Can you hear me? Answer me!" Cammy was pulling at rocks, shoving them aside. Angie and Omochao hovered nearby, worried and scared for their friends. Sonic began to claw and dig at the rubble, searching for Shadow and Shady. Finally, part of the pile fell away, revealing the cockpit glass, shattered. Sonic paused, suddenly very afraid for the life of his 'on-off' friend. "Shadow? Please don't be dead." he whispered. Another part of the rock pile fell apart and Shadow crawled out of it, bruised, slightly bloodied, but relatively fine.

"Ooowwww. I should get hazard pay for this." he griped and sat up, rubbing his head. "Man. What happened? One minute I'm smashing robots, the next I'm smashed under a pile of junk." he added grouchily, and sneezed.

"Shadow!" both Sonic and Cammy exclaimed joyfully. They scurried up to him and hugged him.

"Hey! Back off! Damaged hedgehog here! Don't get all mushy on me, unless you want to catch my cold." Shadow snapped and stepped down the pile, dusting his arms off. "Man, I need another shower."

"Wait. What about Shady?" Cammy remarked and looked back at the pile as Omochao flew to Shadow and scolded his curtness. She and Sonic went back to search for him. After some digging, they looked at Shadow, who was still grumbling about his cold. "Shadow! Come and help us!"

"Why? There's nothing there! Just a bunch of junk." he yelled back. Cammy frowned and stood up, planting her fists on her hips. Shadow blinked at her. "Oh, this can't be a good sign." he muttered.

"Shadow the Hedgehog! You get your tail over here and help us find Shady or the next time I catch you for a date, I'll make you wear a blue bow tie and tuxedo to a public restaurant!" Cammy threatened loudly. Shadow scowled and stormed up to her, growling and grumbling. "That's better. Now help us find our son." Cammy added with a grin. Shadow stared at her, mouth open in shock.

"What did you say?" he asked softly. Sonic grinned and pushed aside a rock.

"That's right. Shady, the kid you wanted to turn off, is your future son." he clarified and snickered, "Shadow and Cammy, sitting in a tree...."

"Shut up." Shadow grumbled and started digging. The three of them worked together until they reached the last chunk of robot. They lifted the metal up and threw it aside, then looked down to see what they would see.

Shady lay on his back, very still and silent. Cammy covered her mouth with her hands in shock. Sonic looked startled, then angry. Shadow didn't have much of an expression, just stared down at the black hedgehog that looked very similar to him.

"Shady! Shady, wake up!" Cammy whispered, shaking him gently by the shoulders. Shady winced, then opened his eyes, lifting a hand up to the broken sunglasses so he could take them off and study them.

"Huh? Whah? What happened? Man, my head is killing me." he muttered and sat up, putting a hand to his head after frowning at his broken shades. "Nuts. Tails gave these to me." Cammy and Sonic helped him to his feet and Shady came face to face with Shadow at last. He stared at him. Shadow stared back.

"You look like me." Shadow said quietly and in a slightly awed voice.

"I'm supposed to, Dad." Shady replied just as softly and smiled through a wave of tears, "Dad!" Shady moved forward and gave him a hug, crying softly. "Dad, it's so good to see you at last! I thought I'd never see you again, except for in pictures." he murmured. Shadow looked shocked and shook his head, pulling away.

"What? What are you talking about?! I'm not anybody's dad!" he yelled. Shady blinked and pulled out a paper, the letter Sonic had read.

"But you are. See? Here's the last letter you wrote to me, before... well, before." he replied and held it out. Shadow took it and skimmed it.

"This is my handwriting all right. And those are the same words Maria told me once." Shadow whispered in awe, "You really are my son." Sonic snapped his fingers in triumph.

"Now I remember! Shadow, you told me those words back when we fought Final Hazard! Just before your glove tore, you told me, _'We all make mistakes, but the ones who learn from them and can move on are the ones who truly are worthy of life. Live, Sonic. Live and learn.'_ That's what you said to me!" the blue hedgehog exclaimed excitedly.

"It's good advice." Shady agreed with a nod and looked sad. "Unfortunately, he ignored it."

"What do you mean?" Cammy asked. Shady sighed and stepped down the pile of rubble to stand next to the Cyclone. He put a hand on it, smiled slightly, then turned to the group.

"I guess I should tell you what really happens in the future, the real reasons why I came to the past, or at least, tried to get to the right past." he finally said. Angie flew down and hovered next to him, worried. Shady grinned at the Angel Chao, then took a deep breath to start his story....


	7. Shadow's Sorrow

Chapter Seven

"Several years from now, Shadow and Cammy will have me. My father adored the fact I looked so much like a mix between him and Sonic. He named me Shadow Jr, but called me Shady for a nickname. I prefer Shady, it distinguishes me from him." Shady started, "Shadow and Sonic finally got along to the point where they considered each other brothers, hence I had an Uncle Sonic. Knuckles was fairly close to Sonic, so I called him my uncle, too. Dad didn't mind, just so long as Knuckles didn't drag me around on treasure-hunting trips for too long. He and Mom were working on Prof. Gerald's research, using me to test the life serum. Slowly, but surely, I was becoming more like Shadow, a full ultimate life form."

"My aunt is Vanilla, Cammy's twin. More often than not, she tried to get my color changed to a pale shade of green. Said it would keep me from looking like a psychotic killer child. Shadow wasn't thrilled. Rouge was a close friend of my mother's, and babysat me on occasion. I played with some of her jewels, using them as marbles. They didn't roll well, so I stopped and contented myself with practicing my Chaos powers with her fake Emerald. Mom researched the poem and learned about our unique Chaos Powers, mine being time altering and speed boosting. Amy Rose became my other aunt only because I saw her hanging around Sonic for so long. Tails was like a role model for me. I admired him and wanted to be like him when I got older. He treated me like a kid brother, the way he had been treated by Sonic."

"The real reason why I time-traveled is because...." Shady stopped and shuddered. "It's hard to say, but I know it was all my fault in some way. My party, why did it happen on my birthday? A cruel gift." he muttered and gazed at Sonic. "Sonic, on my fifth birthday, you were invited to my party. Shadow wanted you to arrive early so you could help him with decorations. You used the north-bound freeway to get to our house faster. On the same route, Eggman's delivery van was speeding, late with its shipment of metal parts and spikes for his robots and traps. There was an accident, it hit a van and turned over as you made it to the intersection. The doors flew open." he said softly as Sonic listened with wide-eyes and a pale look. Everyone listened to the story in horrible anticipation, knowing what would come next, but refusing to hear it.

"The doors flew open. You were going so fast, so intent on getting to my party early with the present all wrapped up." Shady went on, directing his words at Sonic now, "It was over in a matter of seconds. No one knew if you had been in any pain. Witnesses said it was very quick, that you didn't even have time to cry. Sonic, on that day, you died, killed in a highway accident on your way to a birthday party." Everyone gasped and looked to Sonic in shock.

"Bummer." Sonic managed to say, "I thought I'd go down in a fight. That bites." He looked slightly green. "That's what you meant by wanting to save your uncle, you wanted to save me, alter history so I wouldn't die."

"It wasn't your time. You died too soon, so I had to fix the past." Shady muttered, "Because, you see, your death caused a chain reaction that ruined the world." He took another deep breath.

"When Sonic died, Tails took it hard. He went insane, destroying his home and inventions, then using the Cyclone to attack Station Square. Eventually, he was brought down and incarcerated in a mental hospital. He never fully recovered his senses. Tails now spends time talking to the air and attacking anyone who came too near on bad days. To prevent him from escaping the hospital, doctors were forced to cut off one of his tails so he could never fly again." Shady told the group and gazed at Tails to see his reaction. The fox hugged Sonic and sobbed at his horrid future. "I'm sorry." Shady whispered and sighed.

"The chain doesn't end there. Knuckles was affected next, speaking only to the Master Emerald and claiming it had Sonic's essence within, or that it told him Sonic was still alive. He's starved and lost most of his strength. Amy Rose ran for the mountains and never returned. Who knows if she's alive or dead. But the one who was hardest hit by Sonic's death was my father, Shadow." Shady went on and finally faced Shadow. "Days after Sonic's burial, Shadow retreated into himself, speaking to no one and avoiding everyone. Cammy tried to get in touch with him, but he pulled away from her too. One day, he wrote his last note to me, spelling out my full name on the envelope. He wrote only three words. Live and learn. Shadow left it in my room, then went out to steal the shuttle we used to go to ARK for vacations and tests. He hijacked the shuttle, flew it to space, and slammed it into an asteroid, killing himself. Shadow couldn't deal with the death of someone so close to him, someone he had said was the real ultimate life form, so he committed suicide to join him. Dad, you killed yourself when you couldn't face Sonic's death."

"With Shadow dead, Cammy stopped hunting legends and researching the Emeralds, and put all her efforts into finishing up the life serum supply for me. She stopped wearing green and wore only black, in permanent mourning. She lost her life and vitality, no longer the bright, cheery and daring woman she had been. She lost it all the day Shadow died. To support us and help fund Mom's research, Rouge returned to spying for money and jewels, selling some of her own to help us. One day, she was caught overseas and tortured for days before breaking down and revealing our location. She was then killed. Mom and I escaped the foreign military's clutches, but we now live in a cavern on Angel Island. Unable to get out to do anything except run to ARK, we couldn't even escape long enough to keep Eggman from conquering the world at last."

Shady finished the story and hugged himself sadly. The group was silent, letting the story sink into their minds and fully realizing what it meant for them.

"The present Sonic had for me the day he died was the blue Chaos Emerald. When I got it, I asked Mom where it came from and she told me it came from a angel in the sky. Sonic." he added, "Once I learned how all the events were connected, I decided to use my powers to go back in time and change history. By saving Sonic, I would prevent all those unnecessary deaths and prevent the world from ruining itself."

"So, what went wrong?" Tails finally asked. Shady scratched his head.

"I'm not sure. I guess I didn't picture the freeway properly, and now I have to wait until my energy is back up again to try another Time Warp." he replied. "If I had something to eat, and a little rest, I should have enough to get going."

"Why not just go home? You told us what would happen, so I just avoid taking the freeway." Sonic remarked, "Tada! Problem solved!" Shady shook his head.

"Doesn't work that way. I have to change history without you knowing it. It's the only way any of us will have normal lives again." he told the group.

"And how do you do that, since we're going to know all this anyway?" Rouge asked, lifting an eyebrow in challenge. Shady copied her, grinning.

"With my other power. Memory Erase. They don't call me Shady just because it's short for Shadow Jr." he retorted and laughed, "I told you Dad taught me to be sneaky!"

"Just wonderful." Shadow muttered and sneezed again. He rubbed at his nose and sniffed. "Oh, great. Dow my doze iz gedding ztuffed." he struggled to say. Cammy handed him a handkerchief and he blew his nose while Sonic dug around in the first aid kit for another mask. "Thanks. That's a bit better." He put the mask on and sighed.

"Can we get out of here _today_?" Rouge remarked dryly. The group agreed and ran out of the temple as fast as they could.

* * *

Once everyone was outside, Shadow proceeded to plant several Chao seeds and waited for them to speed grow into fruit trees. Shady sat on the grass and leaned against a tree trunk while Tails tended to his injuries, binding up the cuts and putting ice packs on sore spots. Rouge waited for her turn to use the kit while Cammy and Sonic discussed what to do with the robot's remains.

"How did you catch a cold? I know, it's from you running around in this weather without acclimatizing first!! You should have thought ahead, Shadow!" Omochao scolded his friend, "At least I know why I had to come here! I had to lead you to Shady! The star from the future!"

"Id wazn'd like I wanded a code! Id'z all Wouge'z faught! Zhe zhoud ave done diz id da zummer!" Shadow retorted despite a stuffed nose and the mask. Shady smiled at him and laughed a little. "Dow wook! Ztop laughing ad me! Id'z nod fuddy! Diz iz embarrazzing!" Shadow yelled and blew his nose again with the cloth Cammy let him have. Sonic shook his head and smiled as he shook one tree to get the fruit down as Cammy shook the other one. Fruit of all kinds fell to the ground. Tails collected them and began passing them out in equal portions. Shady ate hungrily as Angie attacked another fruit. The group dined on the prizes as the time-traveler closed his eyes and rested to recover his strength.

"_The servers are the seven chaos. Chaos is power, enriched by the heart. The controller is the one who unifies the chaos._" Cammy muttered as she studied her Emerald and closed her eyes. Meditating on the problem, she felt a flicker of something deep within her. She gasped slightly and looked at her Emerald. "Power is enriched by the heart. Could it be?" she whispered and smiled at Shadow when he glanced her way, "Nothing."

"Iz everyone full and happy dow?" he asked the group. Replies of contentment filled the little camp. Shadow stood and nodded, then stared at the two-tailed fox. "Good. Prower! You challenged! Prepare do fighd!" Sonic choked on a piece of fruit while Shadow blew his nose again.

"Challenge?! When did that happen?!" Sonic exclaimed once Cammy helped him swallow the fruit. Tails stood and looked tense. "Wait a sec. It was back in Station Square. Tails had the phone for a while. Tails! Why'd you challenge Shadow for?! Are you nuts?!" he exclaimed.

"Bring it on, Shadow! I'll beat you!" Tails shouted and Shadow only smiled darkly at him.

"That's what you think." he murmured as they walked over to a large, open area for the battle. The others followed to watch, worried about what might happen. Shadow stood at one end of the clearing, Tails stood at the other. He wasn't going to use the Cyclone. "Ready?" Shadow asked mockingly.

"Here I come!" Tails yelled and flew up into the air to find an opportunity to attack. Shadow watched him, then burrowed underground with a spinning move similar to Sonic's Triple Spin. "Hey!" Tails circled, searching for the black hedgehog. Suddenly, he popped up and slammed Tails from underneath, throwing the fox to the ground and landing on his feet.

"Nice try, Prower, but flying around like a birdie won't help." Shadow laughed and raced after him. Tails jumped to his feet and rolled away from the charge, whirling around to face Shadow as he came around for another try.

"Then let's see you dodge this!" Tails yelled and went into a spinning frenzy, whipping his tails around as he spun. Shadow hit the brakes too late, was knocked around and then thrown backwards across the grass. He tumbled for a bit, then popped to his feet, breathing hard. Tails continued to spin. "I'm untouchable!" he managed to stammer out through the spinning.

"He's also making me dizzy." Sonic muttered. "Tails, be careful! Shadow's a very tricky hedgehog. I should know. He's pulled a few fast ones on me before."

"Go, Shadow! You can win!" Omochao cheered. Shadow nodded and watched the tornado that was Tails before he smiled and burrowed underground. Sonic gasped after a moment.

"Oh no! Tails, look out!" he cried but Shadow had already tunneled up right beneath Tails, bypassing his tornado attack and punching the little fox hard enough to send him flying through the air. Tails tumbled head over heels across the earth and came to a stop, a heap of orange fur. Shadow stood, waiting for a reaction. Tails lay still for a moment, then struggled to his feet as the black hedgehog granted himself time to sneeze a few times.

"I hade diz code." Shadow muttered, "How in de word am I zuppozzed do breade when my doze iz zduffed?" He blew his nose as the fox picked himself up and wobbled a bit. Sonic looked ready to run to his side, but Rouge held him back.

"Wait a second. This is Tails' fight. If you interfere, you'll ruin the whole reason as to why he challenged Shadow to begin with." she told him, "Haven't you ever wondered why Shadow calls Tails by his last name? Because he won't recognize Tails as an independent person. He sees him as a person you have to take care of and who can't handle things on his own. This fight is for Tails to prove his own worth to him. And to you." Sonic blinked at her in surprise, then growled a little at the match going on, staying back. Cammy didn't like the match at all.

"This isn't a fair fight. Tails is just a little kid! He's no match for Shadow!" she declared. They continued to watch the battle.

"Ugh. I'm not out yet, Shadow!" Tails shouted and held up his fists as if to start boxing the air. Shadow laughed.

"Give it up, Prower! You can't win!" he called back. Tails yelled and charged at him, fist out to punch. He jabbed, but Shadow avoided it and used a Homing Attack on him, slamming Tails in the back. The fox hit the ground and whimpered slightly as Shadow jumped back and waited. Tails twitched slightly, then began picking himself up again, slower than before. "You've got spunk, Prower! That's pretty good! But spunk isn't enough to defeat me!"

"I won't give up! I'll beat you!" Tails growled as he got up. Shadow stepped up to him, studied him closely, then gave him a hard kick. Tails flew back and hit the ground again. Sonic winced with each blow.

"Shadow, that's enough!" he shouted angrily, "Stop the match!" Shadow gave him a cold look.

"Stay out of it, Sonic." he warned and looked back at Tails, who struggled to his feet again. Shadow zipped up and gave him another kick, throwing the little fox aside like a limp doll. Tails lay weakly, bruised black and blue and a little bloody at the mouth. Again he tried to get up, but this time he slipped and went down again, breathing hard and fast as he tried to catch his breath.

The onlookers were all growing more and more worried. Sonic most of all. He stared at Tails anxiously, both hands clenched tightly in fists.

"Get up, Tails. Don't give up. Be okay, Tails. Please be okay, little buddy." he whispered as Tails got to all fours, slipped and went down again, all while Shadow watched him a few feet away.

"Ugh." Tails muttered and tried yet again to get up. Once more, he collapsed and sighed one long sigh of defeat, feeling like a complete failure. He had lost the match, was totally humiliated and, now, Shadow would get his Chaos Emerald. The Tornado 2 woouldn't work without it. He'd be crippled tech-wise. Tails opened his eyes a little to look at Sonic, who stared back in sympathy. Tails looked away. How could he face Sonic now? He failed and so didn't deserve to be with his hero anymore. He just didn't have what it took to be a hero, too.

"I messed up. I lost." he whispered to himself tearfully. Suddenly, a hand was thrust out in front of him. He blinked at it, then turned his head to look up and see who it was. Shadow stood there, still holding his hand out to him, smiling gently.

"Grab on, Tails. You did well, for a kid. Sonic must be really lucky to have someone like you on his side." he told him. Tails blinked in surprise, grabbed onto the hand and was helped up.

"Whah? But... I lost to you. Aren't you going to take my Emerald?" he stammered in bewilderment. Shadow shook his head and rubbed Tails' head a little, ruffling the fur.

"Not today, Tails. You proved you're not just any little kid. You're smart and you're persistent. You've got determination and a lot of guts. You're okay in my book, Tails. You're okay." he told him and grinned again. "Keep training. You'll do Sonic proud one day." he added.

"Hey, you called me by my nickname! You called me Tails instead of Prower!" Tails remarked in astonishment. Shadow laughed and nodded.

"You've earned my respect, Tails. You're a good person. Keep up the good work!" he replied and walked off to get another cold pill. Tails stood, feeling proud of himself as Sonic rushed up to him.

"Tails! Are you okay? You're bleeding and bruised and... hey! What's with the doofy grin?" the blue hedgehog cried. Tails smiled up at him tiredly.

"He respects me." he said happily before fainting in his arms, exhausted. Sonic sighed and shook his head with a grin.

"Tails, what am I gonna do with you?" he asked the sleeping fox and carried him back to camp.

* * *

An hour passed, then another, as Shady continued to sleep and the others waited to see what would happen next. Sonic started up a small fire for them to stay warm. Tails was grinning through all his bandages at Shadow, who stared back in confusion between sips of soup.

"I think I've created a fanboy." he muttered under his breath at Cammy, who only snickered and giggled. "It's not funny."

"It is to me. Now finish your soup so you can take your medicine." she told him and held up the bottle of pills. Shady stirred and sat up, stretching and yawning.

"Oh, yeah! That was a great sleep!" he declared and stood up, looking at everyone as he pulled out his Emerald. Everyone looked back, watching him. "Well. It's time for me to go." he murmured.

"Good luck." Sonic said softly. Shady nodded.

"If I do this right, I'll be able to save you all." he told them. He looked to Shadow for a few last words.

"Do what you can, Shadow." Shadow replied softly, looking up at him. Shady smiled at him with tears of joy and quickly rubbed them away.

"I'll try my very best, Father!" he declared and held up the Blue Emerald, "Chaos Memory Erase!" A burst of light shone forth and wiped out the memories of Shady, Angie and the stories he told them in an instant from the minds of Sonic, Tails, Rouge, Omochao, Cammy, Shadow, and even little Deiter. "On to Station Square of the future! Chaos Time Warp! Ten minutes before Sonic's death!" Shady cried and vanished in a blaze of light.

Some time later, the group regained their senses and looked around in confusion. What had just happened?

"What are we all doing out here?" Cammy asked aloud. Sonic scratched his head, then shrugged. "Oh well. We destroyed the robot, somehow. We kept Robotnik from getting the diamond gear and Omochao's okay. It's been a pretty good day." she said with a smile. Shadow sneezed again and blew at his nose, still with the cold.

"Good day for you, maybe! Bud I zdill ave diz code!" he yelled, "Wouge! You owe me big dime!" He pulled out his Emerald and Omochao promptly sat on his shoulder. "I'm oudda ere! And don'd bodder me anymore, Badgrrl! Goodbye! Chaoz Condrol! Aaachoo!" Shadow yelled out before warping away.

"There he goes again." Cammy sighed and smiled. "Well. I'll finish up my research here. Then, when I fly back home, I can spend my time hunting him down for a date!" she laughed and waved to the group, "Bye, guys! I left a jeep here, so I'll just drive into town and find my research party! Catch you later!" Tails and Sonic both grinned at each other and prepared to leave the country. Rouge waited for them to get the Cyclone rearranged into the Tornado 2 and the three of them flew back to Station Square.

* * *

Ms. Chao and the Chao children were worried. For the past week, Shadow stayed in bed in the attic, sneezing, coughing and generally being a grouchy hedgehog. The school's supply of tissues were being used up and the dust in the attic wasn't helping him any.

_"Chao chao chao chao!"_ the Chao children exclaimed, Let's make something yummy for Shadow! Then he'll feel better! They set about making a yummy meal. Ms. Chao was in a conference with Nurse Chao and Pro. Chao.

"I'll call the teacher's aide to take care of Shadow!" the principal declared as Ms. Chao clapped a hand to her forehead in exasperation.

"Prof. Chao! Shadow _is_ the teacher's aide!!!" she screamed at him. Nurse Chao flipped through his clipboard of papers.

"Stuffy nose, bit of a fever, sneezes, coughing, yep. It's your classic walking-around-in-the-cold-without-a-jacket cold. I give him another couple of days of rest and medicine and fluids before he can be on his feet and go back to being tied up by the Dark Chao." he declared as the door opened. Cammy walked in with Vanni, her sister, and a small Chao in her arms.

"Hello, Prof. Chao! Ms. Chao, Nurse Chao! It's me, Cammy and my sister, Vanni! Look at what my research party gave me when I left! A baby neutral Chao! I've named it Angie! I'm gonna make him an Angel Chao!" she called out. Vanni didn't look too happy. She was dressed in a business-like dress-suit of gray with matching gray shoes and purse, and her no-nonsense glasses. Cammy, on the other hand, had on a hunter green tube top, forest green shorts with torn ends, dark green sneakers, and a light green scarf tied around her neck. Once again, all green, all showy.

"I can't believe you were trapped in a temple for a week! You never called, you never wrote, then I get this letter from your 'friends' and they tell me you went poof, and you come back yapping about how you saved that tribal terror maniac serial rapist hedgehog from a mad scientist after he saved you from a brainwashing robotic flamethrower!" Vanni chattered angrily, "I mean, Camilla, can't you ever go anywhere and not get involved in crazy killer schemes of global domination?! This is just like that whole zoo thing, only worse, because you had two boy hedgehogs with you and neither of them seemed to be very big on keeping their hands to themselves. I mean, for all you know, they could have teamed against you and oh! I don't even want to imagine what might have happened if you didn't have a woman friend with you! And what would Mother think?!"

"Mother would have a heart attack and croak, then I won't have to listen to her blab at me about my work." Cammy grumbled, "And for the last time, Shadow is not a rapist! He's shy around girls! And Sonic already has a girlfriend, but he runs, too!" She pet her new Chao and turned to the teachers. "Is Shadow doing all right? Can I see him? I brought some medicine with me." she told them. Ms. Chao nodded and Nurse Chao led them both up to the attic. Vanni watched them leave and looked down at Prof. Chao.

"Hello and welcome to the Chao Kindergarten! I'm Professor Chao, the principal of the school. Would you like me to call the teacher's aide to give you a tour? Did you know you look just like Shadow's girlfriend? Do you know her name? She's Cammy and you look just like her!" the absent-minded Chao exclaimed cheerfully. Vanni blinked at him blankly, then whipped out a cell phone.

"That's it. I'm calling Mother and telling her we have to get Cammy into that boarding school program right away!" she declared and punched some numbers in. "Once she is taught to be lady-like, Cammy will surely give up all this nonsense and be just like me, a successful house-woman with a decent job and a longer life-span!" she muttered and listened for the tone.

Nurse Chao sat on the bed while Shadow toyed with the thermometer in his mouth. Cammy set the bottle of cold medicine on the bedside table and smiled at him.

"How's our little patient?" she asked sweetly. Shadow pouted as Nurse Chao told him not to chew on the thermometer.

"Ish nah foony." he grumbled around the instrument. Nurse Chao pulled it out and checked it. "Ick." Shadow squirmed deeper into his mound of blankets and peered out from the darkness of the cave he made, red-brown eyes slightly glowing against the black. "My head hurdz and my doze iz zdill zduffed and Zonic won'd zdop bugging me!" he grumbled, "He dried do ged me do ead a chili dog! A chili dog! I can barey breade and he wandz me do ead a chili dog?! You ave to breade drew your doze do ead doze dingz!" Cammy laughed and opened the bottle, pouring out some medicine onto a spoon.

"Open wide!" she exclaimed and put the spoon into the cave. There was a tug and a slurp and she pulled the spoon out. Shadow swallowed the medicine and gagged.

"Ugh!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby! Get up and eat something." Cammy scolded. Ms. Chao watched the Chao children scramble upstairs with a tray of goodies.

"Shadow! The Chao kids brought you a treat! I think." Ms. Chao remarked as the group ran up to him, each set of Chao bringing their own offering. The Angel Chao gave him a plate of fresh baked cookies and a glass of milk.

"Dankz!" Shadow exclaimed and set them aside, "I'll ead dem when I blow my doz a liddle lader." The Angel Chao cheered and climbed onto the bed for the next set. The neutral Chao held up their offering, a plate with a Tupperware dish on it and half a bottle of sports drink. Shadow blinked at it.

_"Chao, chao chao chao."_ one of the neutral Chao said flatly, Hey, we grabbed the first things we saw. At least we got you something. Shadow accepted the offering and watched them climb onto the bed. Last came the Demon Chao. All of them were smiling their toothy grins.

"This looks bad." Cammy muttered as they held up their offering, a plate of pancakes with syrup and a glass of juice.

"Dankz, guyz. Wow, I didn'd dow we zdill ad pancake mix!" Shadow remarked as he took the tray and watched the Demon Chao climb onto the bed. Ms. Chao blinked confusedly.

"Uh, Shadow? We don't have the stuff to make pancakes. And we ran out of apple juice yesterday." she told him. Shadow stared at the tray of 'food' suspiciously.

"We don'd? Den whad iz diz?" he muttered. The Demon Chao just grinned wider. "Okay. I'll jusd leave diz for lader." he said with a plastered on grin. The Demons snickered as he set it aside. The Chao children jumped up and down happily, then ran off to play. "I dink de Demon Chao are drying do kill me." Shadow grumbled.

"Shadow! Don't be twisted! Eat your cookies and drink your milk." Cammy scolded and held out her new Chao, "Look at what I got in Brazil! I named him Angie!"

"Wunderful. More zarcaztic Chao." Shadow muttered through a mouthful of cookie. Cammy grinned at him and pet her Chao.

"Be good, Shadow. I've gotta get going. Vanni's waiting for me and I have to finish up my report. I'll see you later!" she told him and ran off.

Downstairs, Vanni was tapping her foot impatiently. Cammy met up with her and frowned.

"You called Mother again, didn't you? Whatever you two are planning, forget it. I like me the way I am!" Cammy declared.

"Ooh! How is it that you know when I call her?!" Vanni cried.

"We're twins. I know what you're up to because I know _you_!"

"It was only a mannerisms program!"

"No way! Mother had her chance with you and Daddy had his with me! You were raised by her, I was raised by him! That was their deal!"

"And look at your life now! No family, a dangerous, reckless job, a horrible sense of taste and style, and days of who-knows-what happening to you! Be like me! Get married, settle down into a nice, quiet job and raise a family!"

"No way! Not until I've figured out the mysteries of the Chaos Emeralds and catch Shadow after a very long chase! We haven't even had our first official date yet!"

"Marry that maniac?! Are you crazy?!"

"You call Mother again, and I'll stuff that cell phone into your dainty little mouth." Vanni puffed her cheeks at Cammy's threat and whirled around, storming out of the school. "And I mean it!" Cammy yelled after her and waited a few minutes before leaving the school herself.

* * *

Three days passed and as Sonic and Tails were on their daily visit to Shadow, who was all wrapped up in blankets and scowling at them from the depths of his cocoon, Rouge and Knuckles both dropped by, with Amy joining them a few minutes later.

"The whole gang's here" Sonic exclaimed, "Way past cool! What did you guys bring for our sick hedgehog here?" Rouge smirked at them and held out a red scarf.

"This might help him stay warm on winter days, so he can't blame me for anymore colds." she replied. Shadow's eyes narrowed in the darkness of his blanket shell.

"I'm nod wearing dad." he growled. Sonic took the gift for him, gave him a scolding frown, and put the scarf on the bedside table. Knuckles rolled his eyes and held out a plate of food.

"This is an old echidna recipe. It should help that stuffed nose and get the body warmed up." he stated.

"Iz id pancakez?" Shadow asked warily, still narrowing his eyes.

"No."

"Will id kill me?"

"You're immortal."

"Doezn'd madder. If id'z poizonouz, give id do da Demon Chao."

"Just take the food." Tails griped, taking the plate and holding out a spoonful.

"I'm nod a baby! I can feed myzelf!" Shadow growled at him. He crawled out of the blanket shell and took the tray, setting it on his lap. He started eating as Amy held out a picture.

"I drew this awesome drawing of you and your little Chao friends! And Omochao, too!" she exclaimed brightly as the robot Chao flew over to take a look.

"You made my head too fat." Shadow grumbled and blinked down at the dish, "Hey, this stuff actually works. And it doesn't taste all that bad either. Thanks, uh...."

"Knuckles the Echidna. Just call me Knuckles." the echidna replied flatly, "I can't believe you don't know my name."

"Boo hoo. I was busy with Bio-lizard, buddy." Shadow grumbled as Cammy bounded up the stairs with her Emerald in her arms and a CTU hanging around her neck. It and the chain it hung from were green.

"I got it! I've discovered my individual Chaos power!" she exclaimed excitedly and ran up to Shadow, shoving Sonic out of the way. "I did it, Shadow! I've unlocked one of the mysteries of the Chaos Emeralds!" she told him joyfully.

"That's great." Shadow answered, puzzled, "So, what is it?" Cammy planted a hand on his head and he looked up at it in surprise.

"Check it out! I'll show you! You'll be my first test subject!" she replied with a wink and a smile.

"I just had to open my mouth...." Shadow groaned, "All right. Chaos away."

"Chaos Healing!" Cammy declared and a wave of green energy flowed from her into Shadow from where her hand touched him. Shadow stiffened and looked surprised as the wave washed over him and then disappeared. "Well? What do you think?" Everyone stared at her. "Wasn't it awesome?"

"Uh, what exactly did you do?" Tails asked her.

"I healed Shadow! His cold is gone now!" Cammy declared triumphantly, "Thanks to my new Chaos Healing power!" Shadow sniffed and grabbed a nearby thermometer, sticking it in his mouth. After a few minutes, he checked it.

"Well, my temperature's normal, and I don't feel bad anymore. I guess it did work." he remarked.

"See? I'm the bomb!" Cammy declared and laughed, "So now that you're all better, how's about we get started on that chase now, Shadow? If I can catch you by the end of the day, you have to take me out dancing at the club."

"Do I have to?" Shadow whined. Cammy gave him a tiger's grin.

"You get a five-minute head-start so I suggest you get moving, Shadow." she purred. Shadow jumped out of bed, pulled on his shoes, grabbed his Chaos Emerald, and raced out of the school with Omochao hot on his trail.

"Will you give the guy a break?" Sonic asked the green hedgehog. Cammy stretched and looked at her watch, keeping track of the time.

"No. And I hope he makes this a good chase. I love a man who plays hard to get." she replied and smiled at him. Rouge gave Knuckles a charming smile.

"You know, she might have a good idea going for her. How about we make a deal?" she suggested. Knuckles gave her a blank look. "We'll have a treasure hunting contest. Whoever finds the most treasure gets to decide what happens next."

"Oh great. Cammy, you've created a monster!" Knuckles complained and ran off, "Shadow! Wait up!" Amy looked in Sonic's direction. The blue hedgehog was sipping at a soda.

"Don't even think it." he declared after a sip. Amy puffed her cheeks and snapped her fingers.

"No fair! You never wanna do anything with me!" she complained. Cammy smiled suddenly and began to walk away. "Where are you going, Cammy?" Amy Rose called out to her.

"Five minutes are up. I'm going on the hunt. We'll catch up with you later. Bye!" Cammy replied over her shoulder as she bounded down the stairs.


	8. The Final Battle

> A/N: Lemme apologize right now for the time travel explanation at the end. Just think of it as technobabble, say 'I hate time travel' and we'll all get past it that much quicker. Oi....

* * *

Chapter Eight

And in the not too distant future, Shady appears in the right timeline and looks out at the highway in time to see Sonic run by with a present under one arm. Angie blinked and looked up at a clock.

"Shady! We've got ten minutes to get him away from the freeway!" the Angel Chao declared. Shady nodded and held out the Chaos Emerald.

"Chaos Speed Time!" he declared and was instantly infused with super-speed, "I'll meet you later, Angie!" With that, Shady raced off, a black and red blur zooming down the street after Sonic.

The blue hedgehog was making good time on the northbound freeway. Sonic was sure he'd be in time to help Shadow set up the party. He looked down at the gift for the umpteenth time. He still couldn't believe his good luck. Sonic had found another Chaos Emerald, a blue one, and knew it was perfect for Shady. The tiny hedgehog was practicing Chaos Control with Rouge's fake Emerald, but soon he'd have his very own real Emerald to work with. Sonic stifled a snicker. And he couldn't wait to see the look on Shadow's face when he found out Sonic got Shady a real Chaos Emerald! Shady was such a great kid, tagging along with Tails to learn as much as he could from the fox, adoring Sonic like he was some kind of idol and generally liking everyone he met. A little on the weird side, but that he got from his dad. Shadow had always been a little strange when he was a kid, he admitted to that, and ARK's archive tapes proved it.

"This is gonna be the best birthday party ever!" Sonic exclaimed, "And I'm gonna make my super special chili dogs! Shady's gonna love it!" He looked up at the overhead sign and grinned. "All right! In another couple of minutes, I'll come to the exit so I can get to Shadow's house!" he declared just as he noticed a black blur out of the corner of his eye. "Huh? What's that?" The blur rammed him and threw him off the highway into a small café.

"Ow! Hey! What was that all about?!" Sonic yelled angrily, picking himself up and glaring at the figure before him. Shady stood there, breathing hard and fast.

"Sorry about that, Sonic! But I can't let you get to that exit just yet!" he yelled. Sonic growled angrily.

"I get it! You're after my Emerald! Fat chance, pal! You may look like Shadow, but that fake black hedgehog getup doesn't fool me! You're a thief!" he snapped and used a Homing Attack. Shady leaped out of the way and kicked out at him, a sweeping move that knocked Sonic's feet out from under him and dropped him onto his back. "OW!"

"You've got one minute to time breach!" Angie cried out as he flew onto the scene, "Oh! You found Sonic!"

"Thanks for the update! Give me one more minute and then we're gone!" Shady called back and dodged another Homing Attack, "Geez! Why didn't Dad warn me about Sonic's attacks?! He's gonna bash my head in!"

"Thirty seconds!" Angie cried again. Shady jumped back from Sonic and held out his hands.

"This is for your own good, Sonic! Believe me, you're going to thank me for this later!" he exclaimed.

"You're making me late for a very important party, pal! And I hate to be late! It's way past uncool!" Sonic snapped, "Especially when my brother's setting it up!"

"Twenty seconds!"

"Five minutes won't make much difference to Shadow! As long as you show up before anyone else does, he'll be okay with it!" Shady yelled.

"How did you know about Shadow?! Are you a G.U.N. agent?!" Sonic snapped and jumped to use a Bounce Attack.

"Ten seconds!" Angie cried as Shady moved to avoid the hit. Sonic kept bouncing around. "Nine!"

"Stop it! I'm not your enemy!" Shady cried.

"Eight!"

"You're not getting Shadow or Cammy! And you're definitely not taking Shady away either! They're not your guinea pigs!" Sonic shrieked.

"Seven!"

"I'm not from any G.U.N. thing! I don't even know what that is!" Shady exclaimed and rolled away from another Bounce Attack.

"Six!"

Shady activated the Pick Claws and burrowed underground to escape another attack, then popped up behind Sonic. He kicked him across and back into the café.

"Five!"

"You're asking for a beating, buster! Get out of my way!" Sonic yelled, storming out of the building, the present still under one arm.

"Four!"

"You're almost cleared, Sonic! Just don't do anything crazy!" Shady exclaimed.

"Three!"

"Whaddya mean 'cleared'?! I don't need your permission to go to a party! Get outta here!" Sonic snapped.

"Two!"

"Live and learn, Sonic! You're going to thank me for this one day! Remember it!" Shady shouted as Sonic blinked in surprise, recognizing the phrase.

"One! Time breached! The future will be changed now! Let's go!" Angie declared and flew away. Shady nodded and jumped up onto a rooftop, then sped away, following him. Sonic blinked and watched them vanish into a sudden burst of light.

"That was crazy." he muttered and headed on to the exit. On the way, he saw a traffic wreck that was quickly being put under control. The area was already being sealed off. He could see spikes and blades scattered around the place and embedded in buildings, cars and trees. He swallowed hard. If he had come through here any sooner, he could have been....

Sonic suddenly gasped and thought back to the strange black hedgehog. That's what he was doing! He was stalling Sonic so he wouldn't get caught in the accident! But, how did he know Sonic would be taking this street, or about the accident happening? He didn't know, but mentally, he thanked the stranger. Sonic was still alive and would make it to the party a little late, but at least in one piece. He frowned. Funny, that hedgehog actually looked a little familiar. He reminded him of Shadow, but slightly different. Shrugging it off, he raced up to Shadow's house and found the black hedgehog impatiently waiting for him at the front steps.

"Took you long enough. You can help me get the banner up." Shadow told him.

"Sorry. I was attacked by a weird black hedgehog who looked kinda like you." Sonic replied.

"Black hedgehog like me?" Shadow echoed in surprise, "But that can't be. The only black hedgehogs on earth are me and Shady, and he's just a little kid. I've been here all day, hanging up streamers and setting up the party."

"I know. But, the really weird thing is, he wasn't really trying to hurt me. He acted like he was trying to keep me off the road for a couple of minutes. And on the way here, there was a major wreck." Sonic replied, "I mean, kick the bucket major. If I had gotten caught in it, I'd have been sliced six ways from Sunday."

"You're saying this mystery hedgehog stalled you long enough to keep you from getting into a fatal accident?" Shadow asked incredulously, pausing long enough to give him a look. Sonic shrugged and shook his head in a who-knows gesture. "Sonic, you're being a bit too strange today. Forget about it and hold the ladder steady." the ultimate life form muttered, "I'm not about to get the floor recarpeted just because ten of my quills got stuck in it from falling off the stupid ladder. It's expensive."

"All right. But I'm telling you, that guy looked familiar. I mean, I swear he had Shady's Pick Claws and green eyes. He had that lightning bolt stripe all right." Sonic said as he looked up at his friend.

"You were imagining things. Are you sure you didn't bump your head or anything before coming here?" Shadow retorted, "Shady's taking a nap in the playroom. He's been in there all day with that other kid, Norman or Norwick or whatever he's called."

"Norbert? Vanni's kid?" Sonic corrected him.

"Yeah. The one who stared at me and acted like his eyeballs were glued to my face, then asked me if I was ever in prison." Shadow grumbled.

"Then who was that weird hedgehog with the Angel Chao?" Sonic wondered aloud.

"Don't know and don't care. Hold the stupid ladder steady, the stupid banner's crooked." Shadow muttered and that was the end of the conversation about the future Shady.

* * *

In the not so distant future, a few months after Shady's fifth birthday, Shady returned to his time and used his Chaos powers to return to his five-year-old state. He looked around at the cave he had once called home, then went outside with Angie hovering along behind him. 

"Where is your mom? What happened to the cave?" he asked the little hedgehog. Shady shrugged and opened his pouch, pulling out the letter he had found in his room the day Shadow had died. All he found was a blank sheet of paper and a blank envelope.

"Hey, the letter's gone. Daddy didn't write it to me." Shady said in surprise. Suddenly, he heard voices calling his name, voices he knew so well.

"Shady! Shady, where are you?!" came his mother's voice.

"Shady! Can you hear us?! Answer us!" came the achingly familiar voice of Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Tails! Can't you see him anywhere?!" Sonic's voice griped. Overhead Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge were soaring, searching from above to find him. Tails spotted Shady first.

"There he is! Shady! Is this where you've been for the last three hours? Did you forget how to focus your Chaos Control again?" the fox called out. Rouge and Knuckles came to a landing beside him as Tails flew off to lead the other hedgehogs to him.

"Shady! We were all worried about you! Your mom and dad were going nuts looking for you!" Knuckles exclaimed in relief.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" Rouge asked, checking him over for injuries.

"I'm okay." Shady replied and hugged them both, "I'm so happy to see you! I thought you were all gone! I thought I'd never see you again!"

"We'll always be here for you, Shady. Count on it!" Knuckles promised, "We'll never leave you all alone!" Sonic and the others zipped up to them just then and Shady was back in the arms of both his mother and father.

"Mommy! Daddy! I did it! I'm back! I saved everybody!" he laughed and snuggled into Shadow's arms, tired from the warping and using up his powers, "But now, I'm tired and sleepy. I want a nap and something to eat. Daddy, can I have a chili dog? Right after my nap?"

"You can have anything you want, Shady." Shadow murmured softly, resting his cheek on the little toddler's head.

"Okay." Shady mumbled, "Then I want Sonic to not be mad that I kicked him a lot when he was coming to my birthday party. I didn't want him to be in an accident." With that, Shady dozed off and slept peacefully in his father's embrace. Sonic and Shadow both blinked at him in surprise.

"You don't think that, back at the party, the guy I told you attacked me, was really Shady? Do you?" Sonic stammered. Shadow could only shrug helplessly.

"Rouge said something about Shady doing something weird with her fake Emerald, but then she said there would be small gaps in her memory. She doesn't really remember what it is he does with it. Maybe his secret experiments had something to do with that mystery hedgehog." he replied quietly.

"But how could Shady be in two places at once? And have one of the two be a teenager?" Sonic asked.

"One of his powers is time warping. Maybe he was traveling through time all along." Shadow replied, "He warped here during our picnic, but he had looked a little out of it. He was gone for three hours before our Emeralds picked him back up here. Now he's normal again."

"Maybe he had been living in an alternate timeline and changed history so he could get to the right one." Cammy theorized, "After all, it was at about two o'clock on his birthday that he had sort of glazed over and stopped responding to Sonic. Then he quit answering to everyone but me up over the past few months. My guess is an alternate Shady suffered a trauma that was generated in our Shady. So the two Shadys warped at the same time in the same place to do something about it. During the warp, the two Shadys fused, ending up with a Shady with the future of this time but the past of the other." Sonic zoned out and Shadow cocked his head to try to understand her. "Somehow, the unified Shady did something to the past to fuse both timelines together and thus revive the real Shady. That's why Shady has memories of something that never happened to us, those are the memories of the alternate Shady."

"Okay, let me see if I got it straight." Shadow muttered, "You're saying there were two Shadys, ours who is the true Shady, and some other one in an alternate timeline with a different past and future. The other Shady was created at two o'clock on Shady's fifth birthday. Why that time? What's special about it?"

"At one fifty-nine that day, there was a major accident on the northbound freeway." Cammy replied, "They talked about it on the news. At exactly two o'clock, a bunch of those blades passed through a taxi taking the northbound exit to this street. There were witnesses who noted the time."

"I was going to take that exit. At my speed, I would have been next to that taxi at the same time the blades hit." Sonic put in, finally coming around once things were being simplified for him and Shadow.

"Then Alternate Shady was created when the timeline split into two possibilities; one where Sonic wound up late and missed the accident...." Shadow started to say.

"Because that crazy hedgehog attacked me." Sonic butted in.

"Which gave us our Shady, the true Shady, and the other one where Sonic was on schedule and was caught between the blades and the taxi." Shadow finished quietly, "An instant death."

"The alternate Shady must have been really hurt by the alternate Sonic's death and it echoed in our Shady. For some reason, he waited four months as this walking zombie before warping into time." Cammy went on.

"Other terrible things were happening with the other Shady during that time. The other Shady must have been waiting for an opportunity to change history." Shadow was beginning to realize, "His plan echoed in our Shady and the two of them warped here at the exact same time to go back to where the two of them split apart. That's why Shady was acting strange, half of him was living a different life and he needed to get his other half back. The only way to do it was to change what had happened to Sonic."

"When they reached the point at which the split up occurred, they were fused together into the real Shady, but with two sets of memories, one belonging to our Shady, the other belonging to his other half." Cammy agreed, "He couldn't return home because the two halves would split apart again at the focal point in time where the lines split, two o'clock on his birthday, if he tried to go forward in time. Shady had to join the two timelines together and make them whole again so he could return to the future, which is now."

"So it really was Shady who attacked me?" Sonic muttered, "But he was a teenager!"

"I guess he learned how to speed up time on himself, too. Make himself age faster or grow younger." Cammy shrugged, "He chose to be older to have the strength to stall you."

"On his birthday, the fused Shady kept me from getting to the exit on time and that joined the timelines?" Sonic asked, getting confused again.

"No, they attacked the alternate Sonic. Sometime before two in the alternate time, they split up again, this time to have one teen Shady attack you while the other continued on the other Sonic. That way, both Sonics would remember being attacked and then being late. That fused the timelines." Cammy explained, "You were the focal point of the two times and when the two of you wound up with the same memories and the same circumstances, time fused to give you the same future. This one. The two Shadys fused again to match it, this time a permanent one. Shady will always have the memories of the alternate history, but now, he will have a much better future."

"Well, all this time talk is making my head hurt. Let's go home and catch some z's." Sonic muttered, "Alternate Sonics and teenager five-year-olds... crazy world we live in." Shadow watched him stomp away and smiled at Shady. The little hedgehog slept on, peaceful and happy.

"What an adventure you must have had, little Shadow." he murmured, "I guess you could say this was your journey. Your journey to save a life, and our futures." Shady slept on.

The End


End file.
